Destiny Islands
by i8thecake
Summary: A new girl OC moves to Destiny Island with her brother Leon. She's torn between two guys, her current boyfriend & a guy she just met. But why won't she tell people her real name? Takes place after they get the King's letter. Mainly Hayner/new girl OC/Riku
1. Soon

**This is my first story on fan fiction ever, so please R&R! xD**

**The beginning of this story may be slightly dramatic. Sorry, I just had to... p**

**You will find that this story doesn't follow the exact KH plot. There are the same characters, but they may have different lives or lifestyles. There will still be the original KH characters like Roxas, Namine, Sora, Kairi, and Riku, but I've added some of my own characters. The girl in this chapter is one of the charactes I made up. Her name is to be revealed... somtime soon_._ Her brother is Leon. I chose Leon because he is the one that looks most like her in KH.**

* * *

**Intro/Chapter 1 – Destiny Islands **

_Destiny Islands._

**Destiny Islands.**

Destiny Islands. Those words ran through her head. It all started that day when her brother, Leon, told her she'd be moving from Twilight Town, to none other than… Destiny Islands.

"But, Leon," she would protest, "Why do we have to move? We just moved to Twilight Town three months ago!"

"Ah, yes, but, little sister, no place is safe for us."

She asked him what he meant by that, but the only reply she'd ever get was a nod of the head and a: "You will soon see."

_Why does my brother have to be so secretive? Why can't he just tell me what we're going to do, for once?!_ She thought angrily. Little did she know, she'd soon be running into three teenagers who would soon change her lives.

_Soon._


	2. Time to Adjust

**Chapter 2**

Yes, there were times when Leon would be cheery and optimistic. These times were very rare, however. And when he would be like this, it would usually be only to cheer his sister up.

Leon was driving his car, on the way to Destiny Islands. His sister was sitting in the front seat, blasting the music on her iPod, so that she wouldn't have to talk to Leon. She drained out all of her surroundings and the rest of the world. For some reason, music always seemed to calm her when she needed to be calm. Music, some would say, was like her medicine. **a/n: hint - keep this fact in mind**

Leon stopped the car and smiled, trying to cheer his sister up. "We're here."

"Great," she said, with fake enthusiasm.

Leon just ignored this, and unloaded all their suitcases. _I must admit, _she thought, _this is quite a house._

It was a big, two floored, white house with teal blue window shades and a roof. The bedrooms were all on the second floor. For each bedroom, if you opened the big glass sliding door, you would step out onto the big porch that surrounded the house's whole second floor. _I can't believe we could afford all this. …But, I'm still angry with Leon._

The big brother and his little sister went upstairs, to go and choose their bedrooms. There were three bedrooms; one for her, one for Leon, and a guest room. There was also a workspace, or den. One of the bedrooms was slightly bigger than the other; but the other bedroom was nicely shaped and had a nicer view.

"So, sis, which bedroom do you want?"

"Uhm, well, I prefer my old bedroom. You know, back at Twilight Town?" she said, earning a glare from her brother.

"C'mon, I knew you would need some time to adjust, but being stubborn—"

"Some time to _adjust?!_" She interrupted. "So that's what I need to do now, _adjust_? How do I know you're not going to make us move again? I miss my old friends, Leon! And I'll get over that, I'm sure." She paused, thinking of what to say next. The room was awfully quiet. "But, the one thing I'll _never _get over, is the fact that wherever I go, whenever I make friends, I can't get too attached to them. You know why? Because I don't know whether or not we're really staying here!"

And as she walked passed Leon, he could've sworn she mumbled, "Get real."

"Hey!" Leon called after her, seeing that she was leaving the house. "Just where do you think you're going?"

She took her iPod and glared at her brother. "I'm going to the beach. I need some time to '_adjust_'." She left the house and slammed the door.

Leon sighed deeply, and fell onto the couch. He buried his face into his hands. _This might take a while_, he thought.


	3. Better Safe Than Sorry

**This chapter is in Riku's POV. It's kind of a filler chapter, so I'm not _that_ fond of it...**

**The next few chapters might shift from Riku's POV to Leon's sister's POV. (Sorry, I can't reveal her name yet :P Although, it is getting kind of annoying to have to call her either "Leon's sister" or "her" or "the girl".)**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

"Aw, c'mon Riku, is that the best you can do?" Sora teased.

Riku and his best friend Sora were training, in a match against each other, with their keyblades. Kairi was the judge.

At Sora's remark, Riku got more worked up. He gritted his teeth, and tried to aim for Sora's stomach but –

"Nice try, Riku, but you still missed me!" Sora said, sticking his tongue out.

_What's going on with me today? _Riku thought. _Usually I'm the one teasing him and kicking his butt!_

But Riku's thoughts were shortly disturbed when Kairi called, "Sorry, guys, I've got to go. I have to help my mom bake a birthday cake for my dad."

Sora looked disappointed. At this, you can imagine Riku smirking. "Oh, okay. Who won?"

Kairi smiled. "Well, for once, Sora won." She looked at Riku. "Sorry, Riku."

After Kairi left, Sora said to Riku, "Hey, man, are you okay? You usually beat me."

Riku sighed. "Yeah. It's just the King's letter has been bothering me. What did he mean when he said:

'_A friend from the past shall return;_

_Though you may not remember her,_

_However much you yearn._

_Just remember, 'tis __music__ she does prefer,_

_She is a keyblade wielder too,_

_So, just know,_

_She might as well join your crew.'"_

Sora was in shock. "How do you remember that?!"

"I read the letter over and over again. Eventually, it got stuck in my head."

"Okay. So, why is this bothering you, Riku?"

"Well, how do we know who this girl is? When will she show up? How do we know if she actually will show up? What if we get the wrong girl? Why is she so important?"

Sora stood there rather blankly. "I don't know. Why don't we ask the King?"

"Ask the King?" Riku repeated. "Why didn't I think of that, Sora? —" Sora smiled—"The only problem is," Riku said, his tone becoming more and more sarcastic as he spoke, "he's too busy saving other worlds!"

Sora's smile faded. "Right." He paused. "Hey, what's that noise?"

"Sounds like two people fighting. A girl, and a boy." Riku motioned for Sora to follow. The fight was coming from inside a beautiful white house with teal window shades **(a/n: Sound familiar? ;))**.Sora and Riku stood outside the house listening to the conversation:

"…You would need some time to adjust, but being stubborn—"

"Some time to _adjust?!_" The girl interrupted. "So that's what I need to do now, _adjust_? How do I know you're not going to make us move again? I miss my old friends, Leon! And I'll get over that, I'm sure." There was a pause, in which the room was awfully quiet. "But, the one thing I'll _never _get over, is the fact that wherever I go, whenever I make friends, I can't get too attached to them. You know why? Because I don't know whether or not we're really staying here!"

Sora and Riku exchanged glances. "Hey, Riku," Sora whispered, "That guy's name is Leon. You don't think…?"

Riku thought for a while. "Nah, probably not."

"You're probably right. What are the chances?"

"Shh!" Riku shushed Sora.

They heard running down the stairs.

"Hey, just where do you think you're going?" The guy, Leon, yelled after the girl.

"I'm going to the beach. I need some time to '_adjust_'." Sora and Riku heard the girl's sharp reply.

A realization dawned on Riku. "Sora, quick, move! She's about to leave the house!"

Riku and Sora hid behind the bushes. It's not like the girl would have noticed them, anyway, but better safe than sorry.


	4. The Music Maestro

**Alright I'll be honest with you...**

**1. This chapter shows a ... softer side of Riku. He may remain "soft" throughout the story. Or he may change to become "soft" during the story. Or he'll just go back to being not-soft. (Is it me, or is the word soft starting to sound a little weird to you?)**

**2. Alright, so I know the name of the chapter isn't that great. You'll see later why it's called "The Music Maestro". I had to have some alliteration :D****Chapter 4**

* * *

A few seconds passed by, and Sora tapped Riku on the shoulder. "Riku, can we leave now?"

Riku sighed. "You go. I want to stay a while."

"Okay… If you're sure…"

Riku nodded, and Sora left. Now since Sora left, Riku could get a better look at this girl. He stepped out of the bushes, and walked closer to the beach.

She had a beautiful light shade of brown-blonde hair – and Riku noticed that when it was in the sun, it had a red-ish tint to it. She wasn't too tall, but she wasn't that short. Riku saw that she had a nice body outline (curves, if you will), and he just wanted to walk up to her and start flirting with her. But then he remembered that she was probably still upset from the argument she had with Leon. '_What is her relationship with Leon, anyway?' _He thought. '_If it's the Leon Sora and me know, then they definitely are NOT going out or anything like that. But, if it is a different Leon, you never know. Whatever. They _could_ be related. Besides, why am I stressing so much? She's probably just like any other girl.' _How very wrong Riku was…

So she was just sitting there, lying down on the beach and kicking the sand, listening to her iPod. She was wearing gray short-shorts with a tight light blue tank top. Her hair was originally in a bun, but now she is starting to let it down. About ten or so minutes passed by, and she was still just lying down on the sand.

Now, Riku had a strange feeling. '_Oh no,' _he thought, '_are they back again? I thought Sora, Kairi, and me and everyone else took care of the Heartless!'_

And, indeed, there was a huge black shadow starting to cast along the shore of the beach. The girl, now starting to notice this, stood up, brushed the sand of off her clothes, and stood there for a moment, deciding what to do. This Heartless was _huge._ It was a minimum of 10 feet tall. It wasn't that skinny, either.

The girl started sprinting away from the Heartless, and even though the Heartless are slow, this one had a huge stride, so it was able to keep up with her.

Riku watched her running, and decided to run after her to destroy the Heartless. However, he was stopped by a big group of smaller Heartless (regular sized), so he had to fight them off, and _then _proceed to the bigger Heartless. There must have been about fifty of the regular-sized Heartless.

Riku summoned his keyblade and took down the Heartless, one by one. He finished fighting the Heartless in time to see the girl still running in the distance. '_Wow,' _he thought, '_she's an __amazing__ runner!' _Still in thought, he forgot to do one _little _thing – you know, _save her_!

'_Oh no, this can't be good!' _Riku thought. The girl was running, but there was a rock in the sand, directly in her path! She was running so fast, that even if she did see it, she wouldn't have been able to stop. So, she tripped over the rock, and landed on the core of her back. Riku saw her wince in pain. The tide was coming up, too. And now, to make matters even better, the Heartless was catching up. Riku could tell she was trying to get up, but she must of strained something. And just as the monster was about to swallow her, she swished her hands in a familiar motion and…

…A flash of light appeared. _NO WAY! _Riku thought. _THAT'S THE GIRL! _This flash of light, was none other than the missing keyblade – The Music Maestro **(a/n: sorry I couldn't come up with a better name. I just looked up the word maker/master in the thesaurus, and this was the only synonym that started with the letter "M". You'll later see that there are a lot of M's in this story)**. The girl stood up, slightly in awe. Riku saw that she was saying something, but he couldn't understand what it was. Next thing he knew, he was watching her fight the Heartless. And, boy, could she put up a fight! _It's as if she's fought with a keyblade before…_Riku thought.

And, finally, the Heartless was destroyed. The girl ran closer to shore, and collapsed on the sand, just closing her eyes. Riku decided this was his time to talk to her. It was now or never. Besides, it couldn't be that hard. He was Riku after all…

…And everyone knew how Riku was when it came to girls.

Well, most girls.

Then, King Mickey's riddle rang through his head again:

'_A friend from the past shall return;_

_Though you may not remember her,_

_However much you yearn._

_Just remember, 'tis __music__ she does prefer,_

_She is a keyblade wielder too,_

_So, just know,_

_She might as well join your crew.' _

_'Might as well join our crew, huh?' _Thought Riku. '_We'll just have to see about that…And, since when does King Mickey say "crew"?!_ _But that's besides the point…. Isn't it?'_


	5. Dead Wrong

**This chapter takes place _right _after chapter 2. So it goes back to that time, but it's in Leon's sister's (whose "name" is FINALLY revealed; it was getting really annoying calling her "her" or "Leon's sister", but after this chapter, I won't have to) POV.**

**PS: I might not be able to load so much for some time, because in June i have finals and then I'm going away for about 10 days.**

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**Chapter Five**

**Just a little re-cap:**

"**Hey!" Leon called after her, seeing that she was leaving the house. "Just where do you think you're going?"**

**She took her iPod and glared at her brother. "I'm going to the beach. I need some time to '**_**adjust**_**'." She left the house and slammed the door.**

**Leon sighed deeply, and fell onto the couch. He buried his face into his hands. **_**This might take a while**_**, he thought.**

As she exited the house, she turned on the song Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day. It was kind of her song – since she moved around so much, she didn't really have that much time to make a lot of friends. And after a while, she didn't really want to make that many friends. She knew she'd have to say goodbye to them, anyway.

She made her way towards the beach, mumbling incoherent swears and groaning occasionally. "That little…he expects me to…_so_ unfair…." She said as she made her way to the shoreline. She laid down and starting kicking the sand, deep in thought…

_Flashback:_

_"I can't believe your making me move again, Leon!" she screamed angrily, throwing her hands up for dramatic effect._

_"Look, how many times to I have to tell you?" he said, exasperated. Whenever he told her that they were moving, she would always make a big deal of it. But that's probably because she had the ability to make friends wherever she went. It was hard for her. "I know this is hard for you…"_

"Yeah. Whatever." She said, walking past her brother. "It's not like you have any emotion anyway! It's as if you don't have a heart!"

_"Well, my name's not Noxel or anything!"_

_"What?!" She didn't know about the nobodies. Well, she couldn't remember… "That's beside the point! What am I supposed to tell Hayner, Roxas, Olette, and Pence?! Did I mention Hayner?!"_

_"The truth. That you—"_

_"Oh, so you want me to tell them my real name? That it's really M—" _

_"NO!" Leon screamed, looking around to make sure no one heard. "Don't you ever tell anyone! Not even Hayner! Did you even remember your real name before I told you what it was?!"_

_"No, but so what? Can't you just tell me why I have to lie about my own name? I'm old enough to know!" _**(A/n: she has to lie about her first name **_**and **_**her last name)**

_"No, you're not! You've got to trust me on this one, sis."_

_"You don't know what's best for me! You're not dad! You're not mom! I don't see why I have to listen to you!" She said. And with that she ran off quickly, trying to find her friends. To tell them the truth, to tell them her real name. And maybe they could help her…help her escape._

_End of Flashback._

By now, the song "The Great Escape" by Boys Like Girls was playing. She sneered at the irony of that song…

_Another Flashback (continuation of the other flashback):_

_She sprinted as fast as she could. 'Where are they?' she thought._

_All of a sudden, she heard Hayner's voice. "Serena!"_

_And, even though she was sprinting, she immediately came to a halt. She turned around, and he saw her slightly tear-streaked face. "H-Hayner?" They both ran up to each other, and hugged tightly. They stood there, for like 4 minutes._

_"What's wrong, Serena?" Hayner said, wiping away her tears with the pad of his thumb._

_"Hayner…I've got a confession to make." She paused. "Please, don't hate me for what I'm about to say…."_

_"Serena, how bad can it be?"_

_"See, that's the thing!" she said. Hayner was now looking at her weirdly. "That's not my name, Hayner…"_

_Now he was confused. "What? …But then—"_

_"I lied." She said. "Serena isn't my real name."_

_"But," he said, now confused and slightly hurt, "why?"_

_She sighed deeply. 'Leon, this is all your fault!' she thought. "Because my idiotic brother made me lie. My real name is—"_

_"Serena Anholts!" Leon screamed angrily, as he ran up to her. "Just what do you think you're doing?"_

"Serena's" flashback got interrupted. All of a sudden, she got a weird, cold feeling. She looked up and saw what looked like a big, fat, 10-foot-tall, shadow. _'Why do I feel like I've been in this scene before?' _She thought, curiously. She got up, temporarily erasing that thought from her mind. She tried to think of what to do…

And that's what she did what she loved to do most. She ran away. Far away. Ran away, from not just the Heartless, but just from…_everything_. Sprinting, she realized that whatever-this-thing-was was catching up to her. _'Aren't these things usually slow?!' _she thought. _'Wait, how could I possibly know if they're slow…. I've never seen one of these…things…before!'_ By now, "Serena" was almost out of breath. She knew she couldn't last any longer. She had already sprinted for about five or ten minutes straight, and the Heartless wasn't slowing down.

And then, she saw it. She saw a rock, directly in her path. But it was too late – if she had seen it earlier, then she'd have been able to turn the other way, or perhaps slow down and jump over it. But, being her usual self, things weren't always on cue. Serena tripped on the rock. But, there was this second in mid-air, when her world was up side down – a world where she was happy, a world where she stayed in one place, and a world where she didn't have to leave her beloved ones. _Especially_Hayner.

Serena landed on the core of her back, and she winced in pain. _'Great, just great…' _she thought. '_Oh, shoot! The tide is coming up!' _And, when she looked up, she noticed that the Heartless was catching up. _'Well, I guess this is it. Goodbye, World.' _She thought this was the end of her. But, little did she know that her "medicine" **(A/n: I told you to keep this fact from chapter 2 in mind xD and for those of you who forgot, you should go back to chapter 2 and check :P)** was here to save her again.

Serena tried to get up, but she failed. '_I probably strained something…'_ she thought. '_Alright, this is really it…. I just wish I could've died in my sleep or something…'_ The Heartless was now literally about to rip her neck open when –

– Serena swished her hands in a way-too-familiar motion. '_Why do I feel like I've done this before?' _Then, the keyblade showed up in a flash of light. She stood up.

"Oh. My. Gosh." She said to herself. "Music Maestro? You're _mine_?" She gasped. She didn't even know that those words came out of her mouth, and she didn't even know what they meant. She didn't know what the Music Maestro was – well, she couldn't remember. She couldn't remember a lot of things, these days…

But she didn't have time to think anymore. No, now it was time for battle.

Serena fought the Heartless. To her, fighting came easily, as if she had done before. What she didn't know was that, indeed, she had. Still fighting the Heartless, she could tell that it was slowly starting to fade away…

And, slowly, the Heartless was destroyed. Serena ran closer to the shore, and fell to the sand. She closed her eyes, and sighed in relief. _'I'll have to ask Leon about this. NO! No, on second thought, maybe it's best he doesn't know. Besides, he barely knows anything about me, anymore.' _She thought. But, boy, was she wrong. _Dead_ wrong.

* * *

A silver-haired-green-eyed boy jogged effortlessly over to the spot where she was lying down. He squatted down next to her and said impulsively, "You've battled Heartless before?"

Serena looked up. '_Wow, she's even more beautiful up close,' _Riku thought."Uh-m, not to be rude or anything, but who are you?" She said.

Riku could've slapped himself. '_I'm such an idiot! I should've introduced myself first!' _he thought. "Oh, right. Sorry. The name's Riku," Riku said, helping Serena get up. He grabbed both of her hands, and pulled her up. The problem was, once she was standing already, Riku didn't want to let go.

The girl moved away from Riku a little, startled. She smiled slightly. "Nice to meet you."

Riku nodded. "What's your name?"

She stared at him, her eyes dancing with fear. "My name?"

_Flashback:_

_"Now, remember, if anyone asks you what your name is, don't tell them, okay?" Leon told a younger version of his sister._

_She nodded, not understanding why. "What should I tell them?"_

_He thought for a while. "Tell them that… tell them that your name is Serena. Serena Anholts."_

"_But I don't want to lie…" the little girl said innocently._

"_I know, I know," said Leon, "but trust me, little sis, this is for your own good."_

_She just stood there, puzzled. "Serena…Anholts…"_

_Leon chuckled. "You'll see. One day."_

_But she didn't want to find out one day. She wanted to find out now._

_End of Flashback._

Riku noticed she was having a flashback of some kind, she seemed like she was in deep thought. He waved a hand in front of her face. "Everything's okay?"

She smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine. My name is S-Serena." She felt bad lying to him, but what could she do?

Riku smiled. "Serena. That's a nice name."

"Thanks."

"So," said Riku, "how long have you lived here?"

"Well, actually, I just moved in with my boneheaded brother today."

"Oh. Where did you live before you came to Destiny Islands?"

_'Destiny Islands…' _She thought. Those words rang through her head yet again. "Before I came _here, _I lived in Twilight Town." Serena sighed heavily. She really wanted to stay there, in Twilight Town. "How long have you lived here?"

"Only my whole life." He paused. "So I'm guessing you didn't really want to move here, did you?"

"Well, no. I really didn't. You see, back at Twilight Town I had _everything _I had ever wanted…but my brother makes us move a lot. Place, to place, to place. It's really annoying, actually. It just teaches me _not_ to get too attached to anyone. I'll be leaving them in about three months, anyways…"

"That sucks." Riku raised an eyebrow. "What exactly _is _'everything' you wanted?"

"Uh, let's see," she said, pretending to think, "three best friends and a boyfriend!"

"A boyfriend?" Riku echoed. _'Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised,' _thought Riku. _'But I am…'_

"Yes, Sherlock, a boyfriend. A boyfriend of two months…." Serena said, her voice trailing off.

"Well, anyways, you shouldn't not **(A/N: wow, that's confusing. But I checked, it makes sense)** get attached to people _just_ because you're going to leave. Maybe your brother will change his mind."

She sneered. "I _highly _doubt that. _Every-single-time _that he makes me move, he's always like: 'it's for your own good, little sis, trust me'. And then, when I ask him why, he'll say: 'you'll see. One day'. I don't want to find out one day. I want to find out _now_!"

Riku nodded. "I guess I understand. It was like when my two friends and I wanted to see other worlds. I wanted to see all of them, and I wanted to see them all now. But later on I realized that no world is home…well, kind of."

"Yeah…_home…_" She paused. "So I take it you've been to Twilight Town before?"

"Yeah. I know about four kids who live there. One girl and three boys."

Serena choked. "You mean Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Roxas?!"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Well, Pence, Olette, and Roxas are my three best friends and Hayner was …or still is?... my boyfriend. Those were the people I was telling you about."

Riku nodded.

"Well, I should probably head home now. See you around."

"Wait! Serena!" Riku said running to catch up with her.

She turned around, quickly. _'He said my name the exact way Hayner did…'_ "Yes?!"

"Will I ever see you again?"

"Probably. We live on the same island. Destiny Islands…_Destiny _Islands, Riku."

He smirked. "Right. Well, anyways, just in case…can we swap cell numbers?"

"Okay…. I guess…"

They traded cell phone numbers, and left.

"Bye, Serena!"

"Bye, Riku."

Serena didn't want anyone to get the wrong conclusion, when she and Riku were exchanging cell phone numbers. Well, at least it wasn't for sure that Hayner and Serena were together, right? Still wrong. Still dead, _dead_ wrong.

* * *

A/N: I choose the name Serena Anholts for a reason:

(I tried to use opposites of her real personality/experiences. **Keywords** **are in** **bold. **_Related words are in italics and are underlined._)

Serena: serene, _calm_, **quiet**. (Alright, so maybe this isn't the best name... but it was the only name that was the most opposite from her real personality. I mean, she's not like really loud or anything, but Serena+music is :-). Plus, music makes her _calm_.)

Anholts: a place to hold **still**. (She moves a lot, so it's kinda the opposite)

Please R&R!


	6. Falling Hard

**Hey, sorry I couldn't update for a while, I had finals :( Now I'm away for some time, but I decided to finish chapter six and submit.**

**This chapter is called _Falling Hard _for two reasons, which I will tell you in the end (because it would ruin the chapter if I told you now :P)**

**Enjoy! xD Reviews are always welcome.**

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Chapter 6

By the time Serena had actually left to go home, it was evening. She came home to see a very frustrated and tired version of her brother.

"And where have _you _been?" asked Leon.

She rolled her eyes. "I was at the beach, remember? You really need to chill out, Leon. What do you think I'm going to do?"

Leon raised an eyebrow. "Well, I saw you talking to someone…"

Serena smirked. "Wow, Leon, I never knew you could see so well!"

Leon scowled. "I saw you talking to a boy, Serena."

"So? It's not like I'm going to marry him and run away from you! Besides, I still don't know whether or not Hayner and I are a couple, so I can't date anyone, remember?"

Leon nodded. "Well, at least someone's not as grouchy as before." _'I wonder why,' _thought Leon sarcastically. _'Probably from seeing that … boy … whoever he is.'_

Serena mumbled, "Yeah, sorry." She hated apologizing for this, for being a grouch when her brother madeher move. Then, she spoke louder, "Can we have dinner now? I'm _starved_."

So Serena and Leon ate their dinner, and then each went their separate way. Serena went to her bedroom to relax and eventually fall asleep, and Leon went to his workspace-den-type-thing to do some work.

* * *

As soon as Riku and Serena parted, Riku went over to see Sora.

"Sora, you here?" said Riku, as he entered Sora's room.

Sora peeped his head out from behind his desk. He was on all fours, looking for something that fell on the floor. "Yeah, what's up?"

"Okay, you know the girl we saw earlier? The new girl?"

"Yeah, what about her?"

"Sora, I've only met her once, but…"

"But what?"

"But I feel as if I _know _her from before. I've searched my brains, every memory, but every time I get the slightest image of her, it just…_floats _away…."

"Wow, I really need to meet this girl," said Sora. "Besides, Riku, 'searching you brain'? How long did that take? A second?"

Riku smacked the side of Sora's head. "_That's not the point_!" Wow, Sora could be an idiot when he wanted to. "Well, you're deep," mumbled Riku. "And like you can talk."

"Huh?"

"Oh, _c'mon_, Sora! _Everyone _knows you like Kairi! You've known her for how long? And you _still_ haven't made a move!"

Sora blushed. "What if she doesn't like me back?"

Riku sighed. "Sora, are you _blind_?"

"No, but my eye doctor said—"

Sora received another smack on the head from Riku. "I didn't mean that _literally!_ I meant blind as in you don't see that Kairi likes you too!"

"She… she does?!"

Riku nodded slowly. "No sh—I mean, no way, Sherlock. I'm gone. If I have to listen to another moment of you talking, I think_ I _might loose some IQ points." Riku started to head to Sora's front door.

"Oh, ok. Bye!" There was a pause, in which Sora realized what Riku meant. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!"

Riku sighed and closed the door. _'So much…. If only you knew, Sora, if only you knew…'_

* * *

The next morning, Serena woke up to the sound of her cell phone ringing. "Hello?" she said sleepily.

"Hey, Serena. How's Destiny Island?" said a familiar voice.

Serena was now awake. "_Hayner!_" She screamed so loudly. "It's alright, I guess. It's really sunny here. Hey, I met this guy named Riku, he says he knows you."

"Oh, yeah. Sora's friend. So, if you don't mind me asking, how do you know him?"

"Oh, it's not like _that_ or anything. I just met him yesterday. Now I have a question to ask you. Are we still—?"

But Serena got interrupted. "So sorry, I've got to go."

"Wait, what?! I was in the middle of a question!"

"I know, sorry, but I'll answer it. Sooner than you think." Hayner hung up.

Serena stared at her cell phone, thinking, _'I cannot believe he just hung up on me! AND he woke me up!' _She tried to fall back asleep, but she couldn't so Serena went downstairs to the kitchen to go grab a quick bite.

Leon was still asleep, as Serena could hear his loud snoring coming from upstairs. And she decided this was the perfect time to go outside and sit by the beach, it was almost 9 in the morning. Usually Serena does not wake up this early, it's just that _Hayner _woke her up. The sun wasn't at its highest point, so it was pretty cool outside. She left a note on the table so that if Leon woke up he wouldn't worry.

Serena stepped out of the house, and back to the beach. Something caught her eye. It was this big (paupou) tree, but Serena didn't know what a paupou fruit was, or that it even existed. Anyway, this tree was _extremely _tall, maybe like fifty feet tall. And there was this branch that Serena was planning on climbing onto, which was about twenty feet above the ground. She used to be afraid of heights, but she let go of almost all her fears because depression replaced fear each time Leon made her move. She's not emo or anything, **(A/n: don't get me wrong, I have nothing against emo people) **but she's still kind of … emotionally scarred.

Serena climbed up the tree, all the way to that branch she wanted to reach, which looked pretty sturdy** (A/n: it **_**looked **_**pretty sturdy smirk)**. It was now actually pretty sunny, and she could see a lot of Destiny Island from where she was sitting. All of Serena's tiredness started to catch up to her. The sun was shining in her face, making it almost impossible to keep her from passing out. Before she knew it, there she was, lying down on a tree branch – unconscious.

_Flashback:_

_It was a sunny day, and Serena had just arrived to Twilight Town. She looked out her window and she saw a group of four teenagers who looked around her age, eating popcicles near her house._

_"Alright," said Leon, "we're here."_

_Serena got out of the car, and she saw her new house. One of the teenagers, the girl, came up to her._

_"Hey, are you the new girl?" she said._

_"Um, yeah." Said Serena. 'Does everyone always know when there's a new girl?!' Serena thought, slightly aggravated._

_"Hey, I'm Olette," she said, smiling. "And these are my friends, Roxas, Pence, and Hayner," she said, pointing to the three boys, who were now walking up to the girls. One of them caught her eye. She smiled at the one named Hayner._

_"Hi, my name is—"_

_"Serena, you ready? I just unloaded all the suitcases from the car!" Leon shouted._

_Serena sighed. Her brother just couldn't let her live a little, could he? "Alright, I'll be there in five minutes!" She turned back to everyone. "Sorry about that, that's my brother. My name is Serena."_

_Hayner walked up to her and smiled. "Serena. That's a nice name." _(**A/n: did you notice? That's exactly what Riku did, too! o.O)**

_"Thanks, Hayner."_

_By now, Roxas and Pence were smirking. Hayner turned to them. "What's so funny, you two?" he said._

_Roxas spoke up. "Oh, nothing, nothing…"_

_Serena had a feeling of what it was. "No, seriously," said Hayner._

_"Alright," said Pence, "but you're asking for it…"_

_Serena jumped in, "Hayner, I think it's best they don't tell you…." She smirked. "You'd get pretty angry…"_

_Hayner was surprised. "Even you caught on? You've only just met us! And how do you know I'd get mad?"_

_Serena face-palmed herself. "Well, it doesn't take a genius…and I know you'd get mad for two reasons: first, anyone, I think, would get mad at what they would say, and second you just seem kind of impatient and slightly quick tempered. But that's just a guess."_

_"And a good guess, at that," mumbled Olette._

_"Serena, you're pretty smart," said Roxas._

_Serena smirked and looked from Hayner to Roxas and back. "Only when I want to be…" She paused. "I better get going. My brother needs help unloading the car. But if you guys ever want to hang out, you know where I live. Wait, that came out too stalker-ish… But you know what I mean. See you around."_

_Serena turned on her heel, but Hayner called, "Wait! Serena!"_

_—Flashback gets interrupted—_

"Serena! Serena?! Hello? Serena!" she woke up to the sound of someone calling her name.

Startled, she jumped, causing her to loose her balance. Serena quickly regained her balance, and sat back up. She screamed, "Hayner?! What the—?" she looked down, and her fear of heights now came back.

"Nice to see you too, Serena," said Hayner sarcastically. His voice become more serious, "I missed you."

Serena rolled her eyes. "Since when are you so … so open, so honest?" She asked, intentionally avoiding saying "I miss you, too."

Hayner shrugged. "Well, it's just that I know that I won't be able to see you a lot, so… y'know. Serena, aren't you afraid of heights?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Serena! How are you going to get down then?"

"I'll… climb down?" she said in more of a question than an answer.

"How about you jump," he said, holding his arms out, "and I'll catch you."

"Three things: First, I'm afraid of heights, so how is that going to help? Second, I think you'd enjoy this more than I would." Hayner smirked. Serena raised her eyebrows and continued, "And, oh, I don't know, what if you don't catch me and I die?!"

"What, you don't trust me?"

"Hayner, just let me climb down…" Serena stood up, on the tree branch, and grabbed the trunk for support. "See?" she said. "As easy as pie…" **(A/n: I don't know why everyone says "as easy as pie" but I think it sounds good… well the pie part xD). **All of a sudden, a crackling sound of some sort came from that tree branch. Serena was loosing grip on the tree trunk, and was slowly starting to slip off….

"Hayner!" said Serena, "Catch me! Now!"

Hayner looked up, not paying attention. "Huh?"

Serena lost her grip, and started to fall. "Hay…ner!" He ran, holding his arms out, but it was too late. Serena fell to the ground, and landed on the side of her head.

"Is she alright?" Serena heard Hayner's muffled voice say.

"I'm not sure…" said Riku. The voices were getting clearer. "What happened exactly?"

"Well, she fell off of that tree, there," said Hayner, pointing to the paupu tree.

"The big paupu tree?!" Riku said. "Wow…." He smirked, "Well, good job catching her."

Hayner glowered.

Riku just laughed darkly.

Serena got up instantly. "Riku?!"

He raised his eyebrow and smirked. "Yes?"

"Um, hi, I'm still here…" said Hayner.

Serena gave him a look that Riku couldn't decipher. "Yes, I know. Hayner we need to talk." She looked at Riku.

Riku put his hands up. "I know when I'm not wanted."

"The thing is, Riku, you are … wanted," said Serena.

Riku sneered and walked a few feet away.

"What was that all about, Serena?" said Hayner, angrily.

"Hayner, you didn't catch me!"

"I'm sorry, but I'm not perfect! I tried, Serena, can't you see?" he said, exasperated.

Serena gave him a sincere look. "You've changed…. I don't know if I like it. You used to be less … serious all the time. More fun, outgoing. But, Hayner, if you really liked me you would've caught me… You would've been paying attention to whether I was going to get severely injured or not!"

Hayner looked down at the sand, and then looked back up. "But I want to be with you, Serena."

"But I don't know if I want to be with you anymore, Hayner…"

"Are… are you breaking up with me?!" He said, a rush of emotions flooding him. Those emotions included hurt and confusion.

"Yes, sorry."

"It's because of Riku, isn't it?"

She avoided the question, not knowing what to say. What she would say might affect the way Hayner acts towards Riku, and she didn't want Hayner to treat Riku differently. "I really am sorry. I hope we can still be friends, can we?"

"I don't know, Serena… I liked you a lot, but now I was starting to ….. "

"Starting to?"

"Fall in love with you…. And I'm falling. Falling hard."

* * *

**So do you see the two reasons why it's called _Falling Hard?_**

**1. Serena fell (hard) from the paupu tree**

**2. As we find out now, Hayner is "falling hard", falling in love with Serena ****o.0**

**R & R! Don't know when I'll have the next one up, but I'll try for soon since this one is kind of a cliff-hanger.**


	7. Putting Together the Puzzle

**Well, this chapter came out pretty quickly (compared to the others :D)**

**Okay, I really only got this done in two days, so it might be not as great ... it's also kind of a filler chapter.**

**_And, in this chapter, you find out Serena's real name! o.0_**

**Remember, reviews are always welcome :D I don't bite xD****Chapter 7**

* * *

**A little review:**

"**Are… are you breaking up with me?!" He Hayner said, a rush of emotions flooding him. Those emotions included hurt and confusion.**

**"Yes, sorry."**

**"It's because of Riku, isn't it?"**

**She avoided the question, not knowing what to say. What she would say might affect the way Hayner acts towards Riku, and she didn't want Hayner to treat Riku differently. "I really am sorry. I hope we can still be friends, can we?"**

**"I don't know, Serena… I liked you a lot, but now I was starting to ….. "**

**"Starting to?"**

**"Fall in love with you…. And I'm falling. Falling hard."**

_Flashback:_

_It was a nice, sunny day in Destiny Islands_**(A/n: hahah you guys never knew that Serena had lived here before, have you? :P).**_"Hey, you there?" a young boy with green-blue eyes called._

_"Yeah, I'm in my room!" said a young girl._

_"Hi," said the boy hastily._

_"Hey, you said you had to tell me something. Is everything okay?" she said, worried._

_"What I have to say is … I love you."_

_She jumped up and hugged the boy. "I love you, too!"_

_A few hours after that, the young girl found the boy and a girl named Selphie talking._

_"…and I just wanted to let you know that I love you, too," Selphie said to the boy._

_The young girl ran away, and went to her brother, crying, "Leon, we have to move!"_

_And that was the first time Serena ever remembered moving to a different town._

_End of Flashback._

Serena just stood there, dumbfounded. "Wow, Hayner…. Love is a pretty big word… are you sure?"

Hayner nodded. "Look, I'm not expecting you to get all mushy and start making out with me, but it'd be nice to hear 'I love you too'."

"I mean, Hayner, don't get me wrong; it's just that … I'm starting to like someone else. It's confusing…." She paused for a second. "But what I realize now is that … I _love_ you, Hayner, and I only _like_ the other guy. I just met him, but you – I've known you now for a few months. So it'd be stupid to prevent myself from loving you just because I like a guy I just met." _'Great, this is happening all over again…' _Serena thought, but she was willing to take the risk. "And, not only that… it's just that … well, let's put it this way: from my previous experiences, love only leads to hurt," She added.

Hayner was looking down before, but now he looked up and his eyes met with Serena's eyes. "Serena, if you don't already know by now, I would _never _hurt you," he said, with pure sincerity in his eyes. "But, really? You love me?" he said, breathless.

Serena nodded, smiling. "Really." She paused. "Oh, and I'm sorry I acted like an as— … well, you know… before. I was just confused, I guess. Confused and blind. What I'm trying to say is—" She paused, thinking of how to phrase it. Instead, a better idea came to mind.

"Serena?" Hayner said, worried. She hadn't finished her sentence, and she had paused for what felt like five hours.

"Hayner…" she murmured, leaning in, putting her idea into action:

She tangled her arms around his neck, and he held her close, his arms around her waist. They kissed for what felt like forever, but in a good way.

Well, forever until an irritable Riku came up to them, saying, "Are you two done '_talking_' yet?!"

Hayner and Serena separated hastily. Serena blushed and said, "Sorry."

"Yeah, sure," said Riku, anger drowning his voice.

It was now _dreadfully _awkward between the three; thank goodness Hayner's phone rang. Olette called, and apparently Hayner had come here without his mom knowing. Olette was doing all she could to stall, but his mom would be back at his house really soon. Serena knew how his mom was when she was angry, so she encouraged Hayner to go.

"As much as I would love for you to stay, Hayner, it's best that you go. I know how it gets when your mom is angry, and well…"

Hayner sighed. "I guess your right. So I'll call you sometime, and maybe we can meet up somewhere?"

Serena smiled. "Most definitely."

Riku was now getting sick from them talking. "Yeah, it's a real shame you have to go now." He said, and definite sarcasm could be heard in his voice.

Riku received a big kick from Serena and a glare that said, '_Oh, we'll talk later about this…'_

Hayner, being the sweet guy he was, just pretended Riku was being sincere. "Thanks, Riku." He turned to Serena. "Well, I should get going…"

"Okay," said Serena. They kissed each other goodbye, and Riku fidgeted in disgust at their action.

As soon as Hayner was out of earshot, Serena turned to Riku. "What was that all about, Riku?!"

"Serena, you keep on giving me mixed signals," he said, straightforwardly.

She sighed. "I know, I'm really sorry about that. It's just that, before Hayner came, I wasn't sure whether or not we were still going out or not and I thought that he probably moved on and found someone else." She paused. "So, I thought it would be okay to flirt with you and to get to know you in that way."

Riku nodded and sighed, obviously hurt. "Okay. That's fine, I guess. So before Hayner came here, you thought he'd move on. What changed your mind, Serena?"

Serena looked down. "He said…" she paused; now starting to look up with a worried look in her eyes. She was worried about Riku's reaction. "He said he _loves _me, Riku."

"Does he, now?" he said skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

"Look, Riku, I know you and Hayner aren't like best friends or anything, and I'm not asking you to be, but just… please at least try to get along with him. What's he done to you?"

Riku sneered. "It's not what he's done to me, don't you see?! It's the fact that he's with you!"

There was an awfully silent pause. Serena said, "Riku, I'm really sorry, okay? What do you want me to do, break up with him?" she said, sarcastically.

"Yes," he answered sincerely.

Serena's smug face now became stony. "Riku, that wouldn't be fair; I don't know you that well…"

Riku sighed. "True. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"No worries," said Serena, smiling. "So, we're cool?"

"Yep. We're cool. Even though it's so _hot _today." Riku said, using his charming smile.

"Riku…" said Serena, with a sigh. "Please, don't make this any harder for you than this is for me…"

"Right. Sorry."

Serena and Riku were thinking of what they should do. Suddenly, and idea came into Riku's head, "Hey, why don't you meet my friends, Sora and Kairi?" he said, excited about the idea. '_Maybe Sora will recognize her from somewhere, even though I can't…' _he thought.

"Sure!" said Serena, picking up on Riku's excitement.

Riku called Sora, and it turns out he was already with Kairi. He told them to meet him and Serena at the dock, which is where Riku, Sora, and Kairi would usually hang out. So after Serena and Riku waited for a few minutes, a familiar looking spiky-brown-haired-blue-eyed boy and a redheaded-blue-eyed girl walked over to Serena and Riku, smiling.

Riku smiled. "Serena, these are my two best friends—"

But Serena beat him to it. "Sora and Kairi," she said finishing his sentence. She looked at them and said, "Riku's told me a lot about you."

Sora nodded. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Serena."

"Nice to meet you, too, Sora." Serena turned to Kairi, "and likewise, to you, Kairi."

Kairi smiled. "So, have you ever been to Destiny Island before?"

Riku said, "No", and Serena said, "Yes", at the same time. Serena and Riku exchanged glances.

"You've been here before?!" Riku exclaimed.

Serena looked down. "I was born here, Riku. But I'd rather not talk about it…"

"Wait, so you moved? Have I met you before? When—?"

"_I said I'd rather not talk about it_!" she yelled. Serena didn't like talking about her previous experiences at Destiny Island. It only brought her pain, thinking of the boy who broke her heart. It brought her even more pain, since she forgot who he was.

Everyone was stunned at her comeback. She sighed, realizing she'd have to explain why she was so snappy about the subject. "I'm sorry I snapped. But let's put it this way: the reason I didn't live in Destiny Island is because I _wanted _to move. I wanted to move because, well, I got hurt really bad. Emotionally hurt, that is," she added, seeing Sora's expression.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," said Kairi.

"That's quite alright."

"Oh my goodness…" said Sora. "You're her, aren't you? You're Mel—"

"Serena's" eyes widened. She rushed over to Sora, and covered his mouth with her hand. "Sorry guys, I need to borrow Sora for a second…."

As soon as they were out of earshot, Serena whispered to Sora hastily, "Yes, I'm her. But, you must _not _tell _anyone __anything_! Everyone is supposed to know me as Serena!"

"Wow, I just can't believe it…. Riku knew he knew you from before, but I figured out who you really are! I just can't believe it, Serena! You're back!" Sora threw himself at her, hugging her, and Serena was slightly surprised, but hugged back. "I missed you," he added. **(A/n: they used to be really good friends.) **

Serena chuckled. "Yup, I'm back. And, I missed you, too. I just can't believe you remember me! But I don't know for how long I'm staying, though…"

"Of course I remember you, Serena! But, what do you mean, you don't know for how long you're staying?"

Serena explained to him that her brother makes her move a lot. Sora was sad at this news, but said, "Well, worst comes to worst, we can keep in touch this time, right?"

"Right. We best get back to everyone else, otherwise they might suspect something."

So Serena and Sora headed back to Riku and Kairi.

"Miss us?" Serena said rather smugly.

"What was that all about?" asked Kairi, slightly jealous at the way Sora hugged Serena.

"Oh, don't worry, Kairi," Sora reassured her, with a wink, "we were just catching up."

Serena gave Sora a warning glare. "Catching up?" said Riku, intrigued.

"Yes, Riku," said Serena, through gritted teeth, throwing glances at Sora, "_catching up_." She now spoke regularly, "Look, Kairi, you have nothing to worry about. I've got a boyfriend already, so it's not like I'm going to steal Sora from you. I wouldn't steal him from you, even if I didn't have a boyfriend, anyway."

Kairi blushed at the way Serena phrased that sentence. "Well, who is he, then?"

"His name is Hayner."

"Oh, I've meet him before," said Kairi, with a warm smile. "How long have you guys been dating? And isn't it hard being with him, while he lives all the way in Twilight Town?"

"We've been dating for a few months now, actually. Well, yeah, I mean it is pretty hard having a long-distance relationship, but I've only been here for a little while. And he actually visited me today." Serena smiled at the thought.

"Aw, how sweet. You seem to really like him."

"She _loves_ him, Kairi," said Riku.

Kairi sensed some tension. _'Riku must really like Serena. He never responds like that…' _Kairi thought. Sora sensed the tension, too.

So they all hung out for a few hours until it got dark. Then everyone went home, Sora walking Serena home, and Riku walking Kairi home. **(A/n: I know the couples are mixed up)**

On the way home, Sora and Serena were talking about the days when they used to have play-dates and go to the park together, looking back on the past.

Suddenly, Sora said, "You know, Me—I mean, Serena, Riku really likes you a lot."

Serena sighed. "But, Sora, I'm going out with Hayner."

"So? It's a long distance relationship! How can it last for, anyway?"

Serena sighed again. She was sick of explaining this to everyone, _including_ herself. "Look, Sora, Hayner told me that he loves me today. And you know what I told him? I told him I love him back. I told him the truth. I've just met Riku, remember?"

They had now reached Serena's house. "No, I don't remember," said Sora, in a slightly distant tone. "And, for the record, you haven't just met Riku. You know him better than you think. Now, goodnight." Sora started heading out of the house's path-way.

"What?! You mean I know him from before?" But Sora didn't turn around, he just kept on walking. "Well, goodnight to you, too!" Serena called, slightly angered.

He nodded and raised his hand in acknowledgement on his way out.

* * *

That night, Serena had a very weird dream. It was more like, groups of flashbacks all put together to make her past more clear, like putting together a puzzle:

_A young girl with brown eyes and brown-blonde hair was walking through the beach in Destiny Island, when two boys and a girl came running up to her._

_"Hey," said the girl. She had red hair and blue eyes. "I've seen you before, haven't I?"_

_"Yeah, I think we're in the same kindergarten class," said the girl with brown-blonde hair._

_"Cool! Well, my name is Kairi. These are my friends, Sora and Riku."_

_"Hey, Kairi, Sora, Riku. My name is Melody."_

_"Hey, do you want to hang out with us?" asked Sora._

_"Sure."_

_So our dear little girl, Melody, quickly befriended the three, but her closest friend out of the three was Sora._

* * *

**Four little kids were sitting at the edge of the dock; two girls, two boys. Kairi was having a conversation with Sora, so that left Riku to talk to Melody.**

**"So," Riku said, thinking of what to talk about.**

**Melody looked into his eyes. "What?"**

**"What's your favorite thing to do?" Riku said, intimidated by her eyes.**

**Surprised by his question, she said, "Um, I don't know. I like to be with you guys, I guess. Oh, and I love listening to music.**

**Riku smiled. "What kind of music?"**

**"Oh, you know, like Coldplay, Green Day, Linkin Park, Matchbox 20, but that's only a few," said Melody, now grinning. (A/n: those are my favorite bands :D) "What about you?"**

* * *

_Sora and Melody were sitting by the shore, talking._

_"Hey, Mel?" said Sora._

_"Yeah, what's wrong?"_

_"Nothing, it's just that … do you think we'll be best friends, forever?"_

_Startled, Melody jumped up. Sora jumped up, too, worried. Melody turned to face Sora. "Forever," she said. "Just, Sora? Promise me one thing…" Sora nodded. "Promise me that, whatever happens, we'll be there for each other."_

_Sora nodded, his spiky hair shaking in the process. "I __swear__."_

_They shook on it, with the sun slowly setting in the background._

* * *

**"Melody Kneller! What are you doing here?" Leon called, when he saw young Melody sitting at a seat at the local bar.**

**She hiccupped. "I was looking for you. You weren't home before!"**

**Leon sighed. "Come, let's go home."**

* * *

_It was a nice, sunny day in Destiny Islands._

_"Hey, you there?" a young boy with green-blue eyes called._

_"Yeah, I'm in my room!" said a young girl._

_"Hi," said Riku hastily._

_"Hey, you said you had to tell me something. Is everything okay?" Melody said, worried._

_"What I have to say is … I love you."_

_She jumped up and hugged Riku. "I love you, too!"_

_A few hours after that, Melody found Riku and a girl named Selphie talking._

_"…and I just wanted to let you know that I love you, too," Selphie said to Riku._

_Melody ran away, and went to her brother, crying, "Leon, we have to move!"_

_And that was the first time Melody ever remembered moving to a different town._

* * *

**Suddenly, Sora said, "You know, Me—I mean, Serena, Riku really likes you a lot."**

* * *

"_And, for the record, you haven't just met Riku. You know him better than you think. Now, goodnight." Sora started heading out of the house's path-way._

* * *

Serena Anholts, or shall we say, Melody Kneller, was now fully awake. She sat up rapidly, panting, with a cold sweat on her face, and whispered, "That was _Riku_?!"

Melody Kneller couldn't fall back asleep that night.

* * *

**Drama!!**

**So, what did you think?**

**R & R! xD**

* * *

Oh, yeah, I _almost _forgot. I choose the name Melody Kneller for a reason (**Keywords are in bold.** _Related words are in italics and are underlined._):

Melody (which is derived from Greek): **song**, to sing. (She likes to listen to music)

Kneller: to make noise, _to cause a disturbance_. (She always manages to either stand out (like when Sora remembered that "Serena" was really Melody), or get into a fight (mainly with her brother, though))

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	8. Here to Stay, At Last

**I'm backkk! Since it took me a while to come up with this chapter, I decided to make it extra-long :)**

**And I don't know if I'm going to be able to upload soon, becuase I'm going away to sleepaway camp from July 18th to August 9th, so I'll try to get another chapter up, but I don't know if I can because things are really hectic right now. **

**Since this may be the last chapter for a while (aka until I get back from camp), I suggest that you take your time reading it :P**

**And a special thanks to The Cute one who reveiwed 3 times already (and this story only has 3 reviews so far)! :)))**

* * *

Chapter 8

Leon heard Melody from her room, and he knocked on her door. "Serena, are you okay? You're usually still asleep at this time…" It was now five-thirty in the morning.

"I know, I know. Hey, Leon, when can I tell everyone that my name is really Melody Kneller?"

"Well," Leon started, "the reason why we moved from here in the first place was because you told me that you wanted to start all over, right? And you didn't tell me exactly what it was," said Leon, giving Melody a look that said: _'You ARE going to tell me at some point, right?' _"Well, I didn't only give you a new name for that reason …" He paused, hesitating.

She nodded. "Go on, I can take it."

Leon stiffened. "See, at the time, there were rumors – no, maybe even a prophecy – well, either way, it spread through the island that the last keyblade bearer, the Music Maestro, was written in the prophecy, written in stone. You were young, and I didn't want you to be smothered with attention or fame; and, with a name like _Melody,_ it'd be pretty obvious. Well, that is, if you really are the last keyblade bearer," he added.

There was a _long _moment of silence in which Melody thought about telling Leon that she was the last keyblade bearer. "I see," she said, "but when can I tell people my real name?!"

"Well, you're not a little kid anymore, _Mel_," said Leon, "so it's really up to you."

"What, and you couldn't have told me this before?!"

"Well, I was waiting until you'd ask," said Leon, with a now crooked smile.

_'Huh? Since when is Leon so … devious?!' _thought Melody, utterly bewildered.

"Get some sleep, Mel. I can tell by your facial expression that you need it," he said, smirking with a low chuckle.

"My dear, dear brother … what happened to you?" Melody said. Her voice became heavier, "Did you bump into your ex-girlfriend _again_?!"

Leon's face became stony. "_Melody Kneller_," he screamed, "_that is none of your business!_ Now goodnight!"

Melody still couldn't fall asleep. There was a problem…

… this problem was named Riku. He was the reason she moved from Destiny Islands in the first place. He was the reason she wanted to "start over". He was the reason she changed her name. And, lastly, _he _was the reason why she is so hesitant to say "I love you, too" (with the exception of her brother Leon, but they never ever get all mushy).

And now the question was: how was sweet, innocent Melody going to act towards Riku? What was she going to get?

_Revenge._

* * *

Later on that day, Melody called Sora and told him to meet her at the shore. She told him that she had to tell him something urgent, and that, no, it couldn't wait.

When Sora arrived, they hugged for a second, and then he asked, "Serena, what's wrong?"

Melody said, "You should sit down. It might take a while…" Sora nodded, and sat down. "Okay, so what you said last night, about me knowing Riku from somewhere before—"

"Oh, please don't be mad at me. I was just fed up that—"

"Sora, why would I be mad? I wanted to thank you! So thank you," she said smiling. When she saw his puzzled expression, she continued. "Last night I had the weirdest dream – more like flashbacks, put together – and it made my past clear." Serena explained basically everything – how she and Sora were such great friends, the promise they made, how _Melody _was introduced to everyone, the first time Riku talked to her (which was the flashback of him asking her what she likes to do), and so on … but Melody left out the part where Riku broke her heart.

"You remember now! But … how did you forget all of this? No offense, but I would've thought you'd remember _something_…"

"Because I chose to forget," Melody murmured.

But Sora heard. "Huh? _Why_?" He was so very, very confused.

"Remember I told you that I actually _wanted_ to move before? I wanted to move, I chose to forget, and I wanted to start anew. I don't want to talk anymore of this." She paused. "Not now, not ever," Melody added.

"Okay, okay!" Sora raised his hands up in defense. "I was just asking."

"Well, I have some more news – remember how I told you that you have to know me as Serena and not Melody?" Sora nodded. "Well, you can call me Melody now! But just wait until I tell Kairi and Hayner first, so that it won't be totally weird."

"Okay, awesome! Melody. _Mel_." He said. "Feels like it was just last week…"

* * *

Melody called Hayner and told him her real name, and that he could call her that now, too – just as long as he tells everyone else (Roxas, Pence, Olette). Melody and Hayner decided to meet up some time soon, too.

Now all Melody had to do was tell Kairi – she didn't really care about Riku now.

Yes, she still loves him. She didn't _deny_ it – she just simply _ignored _it. Denying and ignoring are two totally different actions. To deny is to reject something that is true and to ignore something is to pretend it's not there. You could not deny something, and yet ignore it.

Melody called Kairi and explained to her everything – almost exactly what she said to Sora. And Kairi remembered the little version of Melody, or "Mel".

A few days passed by, and Melody was able to avoid Riku successfully. She didn't know what to do – would she really take revenge? Would she just be distant? Or would she simply just pretend that he never broke her heart, like it never happened?

No, she wouldn't pretend. No, she won't really take revenge. But, maybe, just maybe, she'll be distant. _'If only I had someone to talk to about this,' _thought Melody. _'I CAN'T tell Leon, and I don't want to tell Sora or Kairi. Not even Sora knows…'_ Little Melody never really thought of ever telling a soul about what happened between her and Riku some years ago – but she had to spill the beans sooner or later.

She _would _crack, eventually…

…Or sooner than she thought she would.

* * *

By now, Riku was _very _confused and upset at why he hadn't seen _Serena _such a long time – more like, a few days. He went over to Sora's house to ask him and see what was going on.

Riku was standing in front of the door to Sora's room, about to knock, when he heard Serena's voice saying, "You know, Sora, it's good to be back home. It's just like when we used to hang out."

Riku froze. _'Huh? They used to hang out?!_' Thought Riku, bewildered. Then, Sora said, "I know! You don't know how empty this island was without you. It wasn't as much fun!"

"Aw, thanks, Sora. You're so sweet." She paused. "Just remember, Sora, don't tell Riku—"

Riku burst through the door, his nostrils flaring slightly. "Yeah? Don't tell Riku what?"

This was the first time Melody _ever _looked at Riku after she remembered that he was the boy who broke her heart. She quickly got up and said, "You know what, I would have had to go soon anyway." She turned to Sora. "Bye, Sora. I'll see you soon."

Melody attempted to walk out through the door, but Riku blocked her. "Serena, what's going on?! Why are you avoiding me?" he said, looking her in the eye.

'_How stupid am I? How could I NOT have recognized those eyes from before?' _thought Melody, staring into his blue-green eyes. She'd never seen a pair of eyes that looked even close to Riku's. _'No, he broke my heart before. I can't trust him, not with anything!' _"I don't have to explain myself to you, Riku. Now get out of my way, I have to be somewhere." Just saying his name made her cringe inside.

Riku got closer to her, his face only four inches from hers. He said through gritted teeth, "I'm not moving until you tell me the truth!"

Sora got up. _'What in the world is going on?! I'm sure Melody has a good reason for this, though, so here goes…' _thought Sora. "_Riku_," said Sora, with more authority in his voice that anyone would have thought for him to have, "_leave Serena alone_!"

Melody mouthed to Sora: "_Thank you, thank you, thank you!" _Sora just smiled back at Melody.

Riku put his hands up in defense and said with a stony face, "Fine. I'm out of here."

As soon as Riku left, Melody threw herself at Sora, hugging him. Sora was surprised. "What's this for, Melody?"

She smiled. "Sora, thank you so much for sticking up for me. It really means a lot." She added, "And, also, thank you for not telling Riku that my real name is Melody."

Sora smiled his cheesy, trademark smile. "Anytime." He paused. "Mel, you know you're still my best friend in the whole world, right? That's why I stood up for you. _We _are better friends than Riku and I are. Which is saying a lot."

She hugged Sora again. "You're still my best friend in the whole world, too." She paused, and then added, "No, I take that back. You're the best brother in the whole world."

Sora smiled again. "You're like my sibling, too, y'know. Like the sister I never had."

That night, Melody got a phone call from Hayner, and they decided that Hayner would meet Melody tomorrow at Destiny Islands. Melody wanted to come over to Twilight Town to see Olette, Roxas, and Pence as well, but it was more convenient if Hayner came over because his mom was going to the mall at Destiny Islands anyway.

The next morning, Hayner slowly crept into Melody's room. She was still asleep, but Hayner just sat next to the bed stand, petting her hair gently.

Melody awoke slowly. "Hayner…?" she mumbled sleepily.

Hayner looked up at Melody's sleepy face. "Yeah?"

Melody was awake. "Hayner! You're here!" she said, jumping out of her bed to hug him.

Hayner kissed her cheek. He smiled, saying, "State the obvious."

Melody laughed. "Look, again, I'm sorry that I couldn't have told you my real name earlier—"

"Melody, that's okay, I understand perfectly. And, I'm not just saying that," he added, "I really mean it."

Melody smiled. "Okay, thanks. For the record, if you want, you can call me Mel. That's what my some of my friends call me." She paused. "Oh, but call me Serena in front of Riku, and Riku only."

"Sounds good to me. But, if you don't mind me asking, why call you Serena in front of Riku _only_?"

"Well, to be honest, we're not as … close … as we used to be. And I don't want him to know, for personal reasons."

Melody and Hayner decided to go to the Shake Shack later on, which was a little restaurant-shack, whose specialty was milkshakes, fries, and burgers – basically, all the fatty foods.

While Hayner and Melody were at the Shake Shack, Riku couldn't help but spy on them. Maybe then he could find out what had been bothering Melody, who he still knew as Serena. Riku hid behind a bush listening to Hayner and Melody's conversation:

"I'm so glad we were able to see each other to day," said Melody, smiling.

"Me too." Hayner hesitated. "Mel, if you don't mind me asking, what went down between you and Riku?"

Riku froze. _'Why in the world did Hayner call Serena "Mel"? And what _did _"go down" between Serena and I?' _he thought.

"Well, Hayner—" _'This is it,' _thought Riku, _'I'm finally going to find out why Serena's mad at me!' _But, just then, Riku sneezed.

Melody jumped out of her seat, and so did Hayner. Riku tried to hide into the bush a little more, knowing that if he ran away, he'd be seen _for sure_. Hayner couldn't see Riku, but Melody saw him more clearly than before.

"_Riku_!" She screamed.

Riku jumped up, fear written all over his face. The way she said his name was so familiar …

"_You better run!_" said Melody, her drink still in her hand. Riku ran, but just as Melody was about to run after him, Hayner held her back.

Melody gave Hayner a glare that only lasted a second, and then she said, "You're right. I shouldn't run after him. It's not worth it, and I want to spend as much time that I possibly can with you."

Hayner smiled. "I'm glad you see it that way."

Melody sneered. "Looks like we have a spy among us…"

Riku ran off, all the way to his favorite paupou tree, not daring to look behind. It wasn't until he reached the tree that he realized that Serena wasn't running after him. Riku climbed up to one of the lower, sturdier tree branches and sat down, thinking, '_But why did Hayner call Serena "Mel"? Her name _is _Serena, isn't it?_' He thought. But then, a new thought came to mind. _'Maybe her name isn't Serena. I told Sora that I somehow knew her from before!' _His brain stopped thinking for a second. _'Oh gosh! How stupid am I?! THE KINGS RIDDLE:_

'_**A friend from the past shall return;**_

_**Though you may not remember her,**_

_**However much you yearn.**_

**Just remember, 'tis music she does prefer,**

**She is a keyblade wielder too,**

**So, just know,**

**She might as well join your crew'!**

'_Seriously,' _thought Riku, _'how could I have missed that? …but from where do I know her from?'_

_Riku's Flashback(s):_

_Younger versions of Riku, Sora, and Kairi were walking through the beach in Destiny Islands, when Kairi claimed she saw a familiar-looking girl. She had brown eyes and brown-blonde hair. They ran up to her._

"_Hey," said Kairi. "I've seen you before, haven't I?"_

"_Yeah, I think we're in the same kindergarten class," said the girl with brown-blonde hair._

"_Cool! Well, my name is Kairi. These are my friends, Sora and Riku."_

"_Hey, Kairi, Sora, Riku. My name is Melody."_

"_Hey, do you want to hang out with us?" asked Sora._

"_Sure," said Melody._

"_Awesome!" said Riku._

_Melody smiled at Riku. Kairi and Sora exchanged glances, smiling, too._

* * *

**F****our little kids were sitting at the edge of the dock; two girls, two boys. Kairi was having a conversation with Sora, so that left Riku to talk to Melody.**

"**So," Riku said, thinking of what to talk about.**

**Melody looked into his eyes. "What?"**

"**What's your favorite thing to do?" Riku said, intimidated by her eyes.**

**Surprised by his question, she said, "Um, I don't know. I like to be with you guys, I guess. Oh, and I love listening to music."**

**Riku smiled. "What kind of music?"**

"**Oh, you know, like Coldplay, Green Day, Linkin Park, Matchbox 20, but that's only a few," said Melody, now grinning. (A/n: those are my favorite bands :D) "What about you?"**

**Riku smiled. "I like listening to the same kind of music as you do."**

* * *

_Melody and Riku were walking to kindergarten together, since they lived right next to each other._

"_Mel?" Riku asked. Melody looked at Riku and nodded. Riku continued, "I know you and Sora are the best-est friends in our little group, but I want to be really good friends with you, too."_

_Melody's face fell. "Oh," she said. "Cool." She paused. "If you really want to be … friends … with me, that's fine. You don't need my permission, or anything."_

_Riku caught on, he now knew why her face fell. "Well," said Riku, hesitating. He didn't want to tell her his feelings for her right now, did he?! "Well, maybe it's best that we're not really good friends." He smiled. "Maybe it's best that you and Sora are best friends, and we … we'll be closer, but not friends." 'Did I just say that?' thought Riku, traumatized. _

_Melody looked at him gratefully and smiled. "I agree."_

_Riku sighed a sigh of relief as they reached the class. "Well, I'll talk to you after school," he said._

_"Okay," said Melody. "Bye!"_

_Riku was about to leave, but then Melody hugged him. Riku hugged back instantly. Melody couldn't see, but through the hug, Riku was smiling._

* * *

**It was a nice, sunny day in Destiny Islands. Riku knew that today was the day – that if he didn't tell Melody know, he'd either explode, or never end up telling her.**

**He entered her house and called, "Hey, you there?"**

"**Yeah, I'm in my room!" Riku heard Melody's familiar voice say. To him, even though he was so young, Melody's voice sounded like an angel.**

"**Hi," said Riku hastily.**

"**Hey, you said you had to tell me something. Is everything okay?" Melody said, worried.**

"**What I have to say is … I love you." Riku said, anticipating her reaction. **_**'Did I really just say that?!' **_**thought Riku.**

**She jumped up and hugged Riku. "I love you, too!"**

**Riku was surprised, but hugged Melody back, and stopped holding his breath. **_**'Thank you, thank you, thank you!'**_** he thought happily.**

**A few hours after that, Riku was walking happily through the beach, thinking of what happened earlier on that day.**

**Suddenly, Selphie came up to him.****(A/n: this is the moment you've all been waiting for! :S)**

"**Um… hi?" said Riku. He never really liked Selphie, he just pretended to so that she would stop bothering him all the time.**

"**Hey, Riku!" she said a little too excited.**

**Riku sighed, annoyed. "Look, Selph, what do you want this time?!"**

**She looked slightly hurt, but decided to say it anyway. She mumbled something that Riku couldn't hear, and then said, "…and I just wanted to let you know that I love you, too," Selphie said to Riku.**

**Riku saw a blur that looked like Melody run away, and was about to run after her, but Selphie stopped him. "Riku?" she said. "Did you hear me? I said I love you too!"**

**Riku turned to Selphie, his eyes on fire, his nostrils flaring, and his face was stony. "Selphie, what the heck? I don't love you! I never will love you! I never even said I loved you!"**

**Selphie frowned. "But Tiddus and Wakka came to me and told me that you said—"**

**Riku threw his hands up. "Then that was just Tiddus and Wakka! I never said anything like that. I don't feel that way about you, Selphie. I never have, and I never will. I love someone else, not you."**

**Selphie's face fell. **_**'So he loves someone else, huh?'**_** she thought. **_**'We'll just see about that…'**_

**Selphie turned around to leave, and Riku called, "Sorry, Selphie."**

* * *

_Riku hadn't seen Melody around for a few days now, and he was starting to get awfully anxious. He went over to Sora's house to see if he knew anything about this. _

"_So, Sora, where is she?" Riku asked._

"_Where's who?" said Sora, playing dumb._

"_Oh, you know who I'm talking about! Where is she?!" asked Riku._

"_No, you know what, I don't know what you're talking about." Said Sora firmly, through gritted teeth._

"_Sora, I love her! I have the right to know what happened to Melody!" said Riku, who stopped breathing._

_There was a moment of silence in the room._

_Sora sighed. "Alright, alright! Jeez." He held up a note, with Melody's handwriting. "She doesn't want to talk to you ever again, Riku." Riku's face fell. "I'm really sorry." Sora sighed again. "There's more bad news…"_

"_What could be worse, Sora?" said Riku._

"_Melody … she …"_

"_JUST SPIT IT OUT!" said Riku._

_Sora looked startled. "Well, she moved to a different town, Ri—"_

_Riku looked furious. "NO! No, you're lying! She does want to talk to me again! She didn't move!" yelled Riku, going crazy. He stormed out of Sora's house, running to go to Melody's house. He knocked on the door like crazy, but no one answered. He tried to open it, and the door opened._

"_Melody!" He called. "Melody, I know you're here! This isn't funny!"_

_He stopped in his tracks, breathless. There was a note on the floor, which was addressed to him:_

'Riku,

I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU LIED TO ME ABOUT LOVING ME! NOT ONLY THAT, BUT THEN YOU GO TELL SELPHIE THAT YOU LOVE HER?! What the heck, Riku!

Basically, Riku, I don't love you anymore…

I HATE YOU! YOU SUCK! You should DIE!

—Melody Kneller

PS: Oh, and DON'T go looking for me. You won't find me, I PROMISE.

PPS: I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE! **(A/n: lmao!) **Ha, but you don't know where I live!' **(A/n: it looks like _somebody _had a little bit of a temper problem when she was younger...)**

_If Riku wasn't heartbroken before, he sure was now. 'She said I should die…' he thought. 'Maybe that's not such a bad idea.'_

_Ever since that day, Riku was never the same. He was never as sensitive or as straight up about his emotions…_

…_In fact, he always tried to hide them. And his ego was hurt very, very badly. It may not seem like it, since his trademark smile is really a smirk, but he tries not to show it._

* * *

"**Oh my goodness…" said Sora. "You're her, aren't you? You're Mel—"**

"**Serena's" eyes widened. She rushed over to Sora, and covered his mouth with her hand. "Sorry guys, I need to borrow Sora for a second…."**

* * *

_Riku was standing in front of the door to Sora's room, about to knock, when he heard Serena's voice saying, "You know, Sora, it's good to be back home. It's just like when we used to hang out."_

_Riku froze. 'Huh? They used to hang out?!'_ _Thought Riku, bewildered. Then, Sora said, "I know! You don't know how empty this island was without you. It wasn't as much fun!"_

_"Aw, thanks, Sora. You're so sweet." She paused. "Just remember, Sora, don't tell Riku—"_

_Riku burst through the door, his nostrils flaring slightly. "Yeah? Don't tell Riku what?"_

_She quickly got up and said, "You know what, I would have had to go soon anyway." **'Yeah, right,'** thought Riku. She turned to Sora. "Bye, Sora. I'll see you soon."_

_Serena attempted to walk out through the door, but Riku blocked her. "Serena, what's going on?! Why are you avoiding me?" he said, looking her in the eye._

_Serena looked into Riku's eyes for quite a while, and Riku thought she was actually going to tell him what was going on, when she said, "I don't have to explain myself to you, Riku. Now get out of my way, I have to be somewhere."_

_Riku got closer to her. He said through gritted teeth, "I'm not moving until you tell me the truth!"_

_Sora got up.__** "Riku," **__said Sora, with more authority in his voice that anyone would have thought for him to have, __**"leave Serena alone!"**_

_Riku put his hands up in defense and said with a stony face, "Fine. I'm out of here."_

* * *

**Riku saw that Serena and Hayner were going to the Shake Shack, and decided to spy on them. He hid behind a bush, so he could hear their conversation:**

"**I'm so glad we were able to see each other to day," said Serena, smiling.**

"**Me too." Hayner hesitated. "Mel, if you don't mind me asking, what went down between you and Riku?"**

**Riku froze. **_**'Why in the world did Hayner call Serena "Mel"? And what did "go down" between Serena and I?'**_** thought Riku.**

"**Well, Hayner—" **_**'This is it,'**_** thought Riku, **_**'I'm finally going to find out why Serena's mad at me!' **_**But, just then, Riku sneezed. **_**'Smooth!'**_** he thought sarcastically.**

**Serena jumped out of her seat, and so did Hayner. Riku tried to hide into the bush a little more, knowing that if he ran away, he'd be seen**_** for sure. **_**Hayner couldn't see Riku, but Serena saw him more clearly than ever before.**

"_**Riku!"**_** She screamed. **

**Riku jumped up, fear written all over his face. The way she said his name was so familiar … **_**'Hmm, Serena said my name the way **_**she _used to when_ ****she _was mad…'_ ****thought Riku.**

"_**You better run!" **_**said Serena, her drink still in her hand. Riku ran, but just as Serena was about to run after him, Hayner held her back.**

**Riku ran off, all the way to his favorite paupou tree, not daring to look behind. It wasn't until he reached the tree that he realized that Serena wasn't running after him. Riku climbed up to one of the lower, sturdier tree branches and sat down, thinking, **_**'But why did Hayner call Serena "Mel"? Her name is Serena, isn't it?'**_

_End of Flashbacks._

Riku was now fully awake, and out of his dreamy state. He realized he was lying down. He sat up rapidly, panting, with a cold sweat on his face, and whispered, "_Serena_ is _Melody_?!" Saying Melody's name again felt so weird!

Riku couldn't fall asleep that night.

* * *

The next morning, Melody awoke to the smell of her favorite breakfast – chocolate chip pancakes. She walked sleepily down the stairs to the kitchen and said, "You're making pancakes? What's the occasion?"

Leon looked up, a wide grin visible on his face. "I have some good news for you!" he exclaimed.

"Oh, really?" said Melody. Anything could help boost her mood – ever since Riku spied on her and Hayner, she got paranoid. What if Riku found out her real name? "Any news right now is good," she murmured as she took a bite of the pancakes. "Mmm… Leon, you make mean chocolate chip pancakes!"

He laughed. "I know." Leon paused. "The good news is…. Well, you know how you always complain about moving so much? We can finally stay here for good!"

Melody's jaw dropped, and so did her fork.

"My job said that they're done moving me around," he explained. "And, since this is your hometown, I thought that it would be a perfect opportunity to stay." Leon smiled.

Melody didn't know how to react – on one hand, she was ecstatic to be able to see her best friend Sora everyday, and her friend Kairi, but on the other hand, how would she be able to avoid Riku for so long? Melody figured that she'd find a way to avoid Riku, and just focused on being happy right now. "You're kidding! That's awesome!" she said.

And then Melody did something she hadn't done since she was a little girl – she ran up to Leon, hugged him, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Gee, Mel," said Leon, "you haven't done that in a while…"

"I know. I'm sorry I would always make a big deal out of everything that involved moving. It was me who started the whole moving thing. Moving just got kind of old after a while, y'know?"

Leon nodded.

Melody sighed, in a dreamy state. "I just can't believe it," she said slowly, softly. "We're here to stay, at last…"

As you can imagine, Melody wanted to tell Sora this news as soon as possible. Once she was done eating her food, she ran over to his house to tell him the good news.

Sora's reaction was nothing less than expected. He stepped closer to Melody and said, "Now we really can always be there for each other, like we promised…"

Melody was shocked. "You … you remember that?!"

Sora nodded, and Melody hugged him. "Well, since we're talking about the past," Melody started, "I should tell you something that happened to me…. Sora, it was the reason why I wanted to move in the first place…" _'Here goes nothing,' _thought Melody.

* * *

Only a few hours afterwards, Riku came running to Sora's house. **(A/n: wow, Sora's popular :P)**

"SORA!" Riku called. "It's important!"

Sora opened the door to his room. "Is it?"

"Uh, yeah. I found out why M—Serena isn't talking to me!"

_'Shitake mushrooms!' _thought Sora. _'He knows that her real name is Melody! How'd he find out?!' _"Riku, why were you about to call Serena a name that started with the letter M?" Sora asked, playing dumb. Playing dumb was easy for him most of the time, which is probably because everyone underestimated his intelligence. **A/n: how sad is that? :(**

"Sora, Serena's real name isn't Serena Anholts… it's Melody Kneller! Don't you remember Mel? She was yourbest friend!"

Sora put his one of his hands on Riku's shoulder. "Man, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but Mel is _never _coming back to Destiny Islands."

"Oh really?" said Riku, arching one of his eyebrows. "Then how come Hayner called Serena 'Mel'? _And _how do you know Melody is never coming back?!"

"Nickname," said Sora. "And I know Melody isn't coming back because she confides in me. We're best friends, remember? She's never coming back, Riku. Face it. She said she never wants to see your face again." Okay, so Sora made the last sentence up. So what?

Riku's face fell. "Are … are you sure?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah," he said weakly. He didn't like hurting Riku, who happened to be his second best friend. "Yeah!" he said now, more strongly. Although he didn't like hurting Riku, he had to protect Melody. "I mean, Riku, if you were Melody, would you ever want to see yourself again?"

Riku sighed. "You're right. What are the chances that Serena is Melody, anyway?"

What Sora didn't know was that Riku, too, was playing dumb. Riku really did know that Serena is Melody. However, Sora had a slight clue that he didn't _totally_ persuade Riku that Serena isn't Melody.

What Riku didn't know was that Sora warned Melody that Riku might know her real name. Sora also told Melody to keep a low profile around Riku now.

* * *

There was a lot going on in Melody's life right now. Not only was she trying to avoid Riku, which was so impractical since his house is right next to hers, but lately Hayner has become more distant.

Melody decided once and for all to find out what was going on. So … she decided to make a surprise trip to Twilight Town. Leon wouldn't let her go by herself, so Kairi went with her.

"You know, Mel, I'm glad we _finally _get so spend some time together."

Melody smiled. "Me too. I always spend time with Sora, so I never really have time to spend with anyone else. But, it's nice spending time with you, like old times."

They arrived at Twilight Town in the late afternoon, and Melody first showed Kairi around. "That's the mall," said Melody pointing to a big building. "That's the pharmacy." Melody pointed to a smaller building. "That's where I used to live." She paused, until they reached the place. "And _that's _where the gang and I used to hang out. I wonder if they're in there right now…. Let's check."

Kairi nodded. "I hear voices," she said.

Sure enough, Melody heard four familiar voices. She entered, and said with a smile, "Hey guys! Miss me?"

"Se—Melody!" said Olette. Melody told Hayner to tell everyone her real name, which he did, but they were so used to calling her Serena.

"Hey Olette! Everyone, this is my friend Kairi from Destiny Islands."

Roxas got up. "Hey, Kairi. Have I seen you before?"

Kairi nodded. "I'm related to Namine, remember? Just like you're related to Sora…" Kairi said, hoping he'd catch the hint. She didn't want everyone to know that she and Sora had nobodies…. Although, Melody knew by now.

Roxas caught on. "Oh yeah! I remember you now. When you get back, can you tell Sora I say hi?"

Kairi nodded.

"Hey, where's Hayner?" asked Melody.

Pence hesitated. "He's … well, Melody, lately he's been a little far-off. He likes to be alone now…. So he's at his house."

Melody's face fell. "Well, I'm going to visit him." She turned to Kairi. "Do you mind? You could spend time with Olette, Roxas, and Pence while I'm gone. I just really need to speak to Hayner."

Kairi nodded and gave a warm smile. "I understand completely. Take your time."

Melody hugged Kairi as a thank you, and waved good-bye to everyone else. She started making her way to Hayner's house.

…And there she was. It was a fairly big, white house with olive green window shades and borders. She approached the door, hesitating. The kitchen lights were off, which meant Hayner's parents were still at work. Hayner must be the only one home. She wondered how he would react…

She knocked on the door – no answer. She tried again – still no answer. She tried again, and then she heard Hayner's voice saying, "No one's home!"

Melody sighed, and knocked harshly. "_Hayner! Open up! It' s M—_" but Hayner was already at the door.

"Mel?" he asked, confused.

"Hmm?"

They stood there for a moment, Hayner's face still looking confused.

"Um, can I come in now?" Melody asked.

"Oh. Right. Sorry."

She entered his house, and they both took a seat on the couch in the living room. "Look, Hayner, I'm just going to get to the point." She paused. "You've been acting a little weird lately – is everything alright?" When there still was silence, Melody added, "You know you can tell me anything."

Hayner sighed. "I know, and I'm sorry I've been like this. It's just that … well, to be truthful, Mel, this isn't working for me."

"Huh? What's not working for you?"

He grabbed Melody's hand and squeezed it. "_This_."

There was silence in the room, and all Hayner could hear was Melody's breathing. "Oh," she said. "That."

"Yeah. I mean, the relationship is working for me! But the long-distance part of the relationship isn't…. I'm really sorry, Mel."

She smiled, covering up the hurt. "That's okay, Hayner. I need some time to myself now anyway…" _'(I need some time to myself now anyway …) Since I found out that Riku was the guy …' _added Melody in her head. It _was _true – she needed time to rethink the past.

Hayner smiled slightly, glad that Melody wasn't making a big deal out of this. "Well, we can still be friends, right?"

Melody nodded. "Right. But Hayner, as my friend, just tell me – _why_ have you been so distant lately?"

He looked down, so that the topic would be easier for him to talk about. "My parents are getting a divorce," he whispered. "But I haven't told anyone yet," he added.

"Aw, Hayner, I'm so sorry!" Melody hugged him in a friendly way.

As Melody was pulling away from the hug, Hayner just held on tighter. "You know, Mel, just because the long distance thing doesn't work out for me, doesn't mean I don't love you…"

Melody's jaw dropped. "Um, wow …" she said, slowly, not knowing how to respond. "Hayner, I love you too," she said, quickly, "but I think we should just pretend that we never went out. It'll be easier for the both of us, trust me."

Hayner sighed and let go of Melody. "You're right."

Melody smirked. "As always."

* * *

**A/n: I know, I know, it seemed like Hayner and Mel would stay together, but I had to break them up somehow for this story to move on.**


	9. Truly Alone ,,, Or Not

**I'm back from camp! Finally :) Hope you like! There's an unexpected twist towards the end ;)**

**Please R & R! XD**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

"I'm so sorry, Mel." Sora and Melody were walking on the beach, when Melody told him that she and Hayner broke up.

"It's okay," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "I guess I need this anyway…"  
Her voice strengthened. "I guess this is where I'm supposed to be – never in a relationship, never totally out of a relationship. With Riku," she whispered again, "I was never actually _in _a relationship, since we were only so young. With Hayner," she said, her voice now louder, "I'm not really out of the relationship, since, technically we still love each other. You know, at first _I _wanted to break up with _him. _Then heconfesses that he loves meand I go all _soft_ and decide that I love him, too. Then, after some time, he decides that this long distance relationship doesn't work out – what _sick_ twists…" she said, shaking her head from side to side. She sighed. "But that's life, I guess."

Sora could tell that she was hurt, badly. He put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "That _is _life, Mel. So, what are you going to do now?"

She looked at him, confused.

"Aren't you going to do something about it? Get back together with him or something?"

"No. We'll always just fall back to the place where we were clearly meant to be, just friends."

Now _Sora_ looked confused. His eyebrows were furrowed. "I thought we were talking about Hayner here."

"What do you mean?"

"That's not the case with you and Hayner – you guys broke up only because of the long distance crap. It's not 'clearly meant to be' that you guys should be friends." When Sora didn't get a response from Melody, he said, "So, were you talking about someone else? Like … Riku, maybe?"

"I… I don't know…" she whispered softly.

"What about Riku?"

She shook her head. "I don't know what to do…. I guess I'll have to face him sometime, Sora. But hopefully not sometime soon."

Nowadays, after breaking up with Hayner, Melody wasn't as lively as she used to be. Even though she didn't love Hayner as much as she loved Riku, it was still hard on her. And right now, though she can usually last without one, what she needed was someone to help her through her hard times, who knows how to cheer her up in a way anyone else could not, someone who knows her better than she knows her self. Someone she loved, dearly, even more than Hayner – wait, had Melody just described some one she knew…?

Riku.

Melody sighed and turned to Sora. "I'm tired. I'm going to go home now, to sleep. But I'll see you soon."

She went back up to her house, and into her bedroom. She sat there, on her bed, for an hour, just deep in thought. _'Maybe it really _is _best for me like this. I may love Hayner, but he's not the love of my life…' _she would think. _'But what I realized earlier, about what I need right now, is really starting to bother me. Do I really need Riku? Can I really forgive and forget? He may be the love of my life (so far), but he hurt me really badly.' _She sighed. Thinking usually got her somewhere, but today she couldn't come up with anything – no answers, no conclusions. Just the same question, echoing through her head: _Do I really need Riku?_

* * *

Olette called Melody's house to check on her, since she and Hayner broke up. "How is she?"

Leon sighed. "She's been better, let's put it that way."

"Such a shame," said Olette. "They really loved each other…"

"I know." He paused. "It's all my fault."

"Leon, don't say that!"

"But it is! The reason why they broke up was because the long distance relationship wasn't working out! If Melody and I had never moved from Twilight Town, this wouldn't have happened."

"Don't blame yourself. It's not like you had a choice to move or not. It was your job, remember?"

"Still." He paused again. "I better get going. I have to make dinner for Mel and me."

"Alright. Tell her I say hi and feel better!"

"Will do. Bye."

But when Leon called Melody to come downstairs for dinner, she wasn't in her room. _And _she left her cell phone in her room, but her iPod was gone. All of a sudden, Leon felt a light breeze – the window was open. "Figures," mumbled Leon.

Melody didn't want Leon to know where she was; she just wanted some time to be truly alone. Nowadays, she preferred that. Melody went to the beach and lay down, listening to her iPod. A sense of déjà vu washed over her – when had she done this before?

Oh. Right. The _second _first time she met Riku (when she met Riku as _Serena Anholts –_ not the first time she _ever _met him). There was no Heartless now, and there was no Riku now. There was no sun, only the dim light from the moon. _'How different this is,' _she thought. _'It's as if I'm in reverse – but maybe that's because last time I did this, I was Serena Anholts. This time, I'm Melody Kneller. It seems that Riku likes Serena better than Melody. Especially since he—' _Melody forced herself to drown out her thoughts before it got painful. So she turned up the volume on her iPod.

Lately, she'd been searching for a new song. Something that would start off soft in the beginning, and would stay soft until right about the middle of the song. Then, towards the final chorus, it would become soft again, and right after, it would become stronger, and then end. But she couldn't find any songs like that….

Melody sighed. She wished she could stay out here, on the beach, forever, just staring at the moon. No worries, no stress, no problems…

The next morning, she was listening to the radio, hopeless. She knew she'd probably never find the song she was looking for. When, all off a sudden, a song comes on…

Melody ran up the stairs, to her room. She searched the lyrics on her computer, and she found the name of the song, and whom it was by. Melody bought it off of iTunes and added it to her iPod.

She would listen to it all day long.

* * *

"Melody! Melody!" Leon yelled as he knocked on her door. "I know you hear me – and I know that _you _know that you can't stay in your room forever!" No response. "Melody Kneller, open up right now!"

Melody rolled her eyes and got up lazily from her bed. She got up so quickly, that she felt blind and dizzy; Melody was blacking out. She reached for the doorknob blindly, and unlocked it. "Yes, brother?"

"Go for a walk. A run. Swim. Do _something_! You can't just lie down on your bed all day listening to the same song over and over again!"

Melody shrugged. "There's no law that says I can't."

Leon sighed, now serious. "What about your friends, Mel? What about _Sora_?"

Melody shook her head. "Don't give me that guilt trip! He'll understand."

"He'd understand if you were like this for two or three days, but, Mel, you've been like this for a _week_. Not only that, you're starting to … shut everyone out, pushing them away."

Melody shook her head, yet again, but this time in denial. "That's … not … true …" she said slowly, trying to convince herself.

"Oh yeah? Then how come Sora or Kairi haven't called in days? It's because you never call them back, Mel – and I hate doing this, but it's the only way to make you realize what effect this has on you, and on everyone else around you."

"Well it doesn't seem that you 'hate doing this'! Because you say stuff like this to my _all _the time!"

Leon raised an eyebrow. "But it works, though, doesn't it, Mel?" He didn't mean for her to answer, and Melody could tell that from the tone of his voice when he 'asked' the question. He sighed. "Just think about what I said." Leon left the room, but kept the door open.

What Leon didn't know was that every night, while he was sound asleep, Melody would sneak out the window and go down to the beach with her iPod. She would listen to her music, and just stare up at the moon. Which is why she spent all day in bed, whether asleep or not – because she slowly became … nocturnal.

She thought that if she went out at nighttime, no one would find her. So, yet again, she'd be, as she'd say it, "truly alone". Maybe she'd never know, maybe she'd never find out – maybe she would; but she was_n't_ truly alone.

By now, Melody had dark circles under her eyes, and her face was skinnier than it usually was. She. Was. A. _Mess_.

One night she was on the beach with her iPod (the usual routine), but it felt … different. She looked behind her, but no one was there. Strange – it felt like someone was…. Anyway, she turned on the volume on her iPod the highest it could go **(A/n: surprised she's not deaf yet? Yeah, me too.)**,and listened to that song – the song she loved.

_The best thing about tonight's that we're not fighting  
Could it be that we have been this way before?  
I know you don't think that I am trying  
I know you're wearing thin down to the core_

_But hold your breath  
Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you  
Over again  
Don't make me change my mind  
Or I wont live to see another day  
I swear it's true  
Because a girl like you is impossible to find  
You're impossible to find_

_This is not what I intended  
I always swore to you I'd never fall apart  
You always thought that I was stronger  
I may of failed  
But I have loved you from the start  
Ohhhh_

_But hold your breath  
Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you  
Over again  
Don't make me change my mind  
Or I wont live to see another day  
I swear it's true  
Because a girl like you is impossible to find  
It's impossible_

_So breathe in so deep  
Breathe me in  
I'm yours to keep  
And hold onto your words  
'Cause talk is cheap  
And remember me tonight  
When your asleep_

_Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you  
Over again  
Don't make me change my mind  
Or I wont live to see another day  
I swear it's true  
Because a girl like you is impossible to find_

_Tonight will be the night that I will fall for you  
Over again  
Don't make me change my mind  
Or I wont live to see another day  
I swear it's true  
Because a girl like you is impossible to find  
You're impossible to find_

Melody listened to the song a couple of times, singing the words softly to herself. When, just as she was about to get up, she heard soft footsteps (well, more like sand sloshing around, since it was hard to hear footsteps when on the beach)…

Riku.

* * *

Riku came up from behind Melody quietly, so she wouldn't realize he was there. Then, he started singing:

_The best thing about tonight's that we're not fighting  
Could it be that we have been this way before?  
I know you don't think that I am trying  
I know you're wearing thin down to the core  
_

Melody turned around to see Riku, and gasped.

_  
But hold your breath  
Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you  
Over again  
Don't make me change my mind  
Or I wont live to see another day  
I swear it's true  
Because a girl like you is impossible to find  
You're impossible to find_

_This is not what I intended  
I always swore to you I'd never fall apart  
You always thought that I was stronger  
I may of failed  
But I have loved you from the start  
Ohhhh_

_But hold your breath  
Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you  
Over again  
Don't make me change my mind  
Or I wont live to see another day  
I swear it's true  
Because a girl like you is impossible to find  
It's impossible  
_

And then, Melody stood up and sang:_  
_

_So breathe in so deep  
Breathe me in  
I'm yours to keep  
And hold onto your words  
'Cause talk is cheap  
And remember me tonight  
When your asleep  
_

Riku smiled, and continued:

_  
Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you  
Over again  
Don't make me change my mind  
Or I wont live to see another day  
I swear it's true  
Because a girl like you is impossible to find  
_

And then, together they sang:

**Together: **_Tonight will be the night that I will fall for you  
_**Riku: **_Over again  
_**Melody: **_Don't make me change my mind  
_**Riku: **_Or I wont live to see another day  
_**Melody: **_I swear it's true  
_**Riku: **_Because a girl like you is impossible to find  
_**Together:**_You're impossible to find_

"You're impossible to find, _Mel_," breathed Riku.

Melody gasped again. Riku never told Melody that he knew her real name. "Wait, what about Selphie? And how did you know…?"

Riku snorted bitterly. "Mel, how could you be so … so _stupid_! Don't you see? I _never _loved Selphie!"

"Well, it seems like you did! Why did she say 'I love you_ too_' then?"

"It's called Tidus and Wakka. They thought it would be funny if they told Selphie that I loved her – which I didn't and still don't – so that's why she said 'I love you _too_'. You didn't even give me a chance to explain before you left…" he said, shaking his head sadly.

"Okay," said Melody, "you answered one of my questions. How did you know my … my real name?"

Riku sighed and held out a crumpled piece of paper.

'Riku,

I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU LIED TO ME ABOUT LOVING ME! NOT ONLY THAT, BUT THEN YOU—'

Melody recognized the letter at once. She stopped reading it when it got to the "BUT THEN YOU" part.

_Flashback:_

_"Mel, are you ready to leave yet?" called Leon. He and his little sister, Melody, were moving out of Destiny Islands that day._

_"Yeah, I'm done packing and everything. I just have to write a letter." Melody wrote down the letter, and set it down somewhere on the floor. 'If he really does love me, then he'll find this,' she thought._

_"C'mon, Mel!"_

_Melody followed Leon out of the door of her house. But she wasn't just leaving her house behind. She wasn't just leaving her memories behind. She was leaving her life – Riku – behind as well._

_End of Flashback._

"You … you _found _this? You actually went to look for me in my house when I left?" _'He really did love me,' _she thought, feeling horrible about the letter.

Riku nodded.

"And you still have it?" she said, in awe.

Riku nodded again. "Yeah."

"Oh, Riku!" She ran over and hugged him really, _really _tightly. "I'm _so _sorry."

"_You're _sorry?! I'm sorry! This is all my fault—"

"No, it's not! It's mine! If I would have listened—"

"But, Mel, if I had run after—"

"Alright, then, it's _our _fault. There, happy?"

"No," he grumbled. But realizing what she said, what she meant, he said, "Yes."

Melody laughed. It was then that she realized that they were still hugging. Apparently, Riku realized that too, and pulled away, taking a step back awkwardly.

"What was that for, Riku?"

"You're still going out with Hayner, aren't you?"

Melody rolled her eyes. "Why do you think—wait a minute," she said, a realization dawning on her, "how'd you know I'd be here? And how did you know I love that song?"

Riku blushed. "Mel, don't be mad, please…"

Melody gaped. "You … _spied _on me?"

"Well," he said quickly, "well, I didn't mean to. At first, I was just wandering on the beach at night because I couldn't fall asleep. And then I saw you, lying down on the sand, listening to your iPod, and I thought, _'so typical Melody'_. Another sleepless night came, and I checked up on you yet again. It became a routine – I didn't need to set an alarm or anything, I would just wake up and go to the beach, half asleep, and watch you sit there…" He paused, realizing that something about Melody was different. "Hey, are you alright? You look … different."

She rolled her eyes. "Thanks." Sarcasm. Who could blame her?

"No, seriously, Mel." Riku parted a piece of hair from her face so he could see her eyes clearly. "You have dark circles under your eyes. Your face looks skinnier."

"Hmph. Funny. You're the only one that seemed to notice."

Riku narrowed his eyes. "When was the last time you slept?"

"I don't know, a few days ago, I think," she said her voice getting lower with each word. And then it happened – she crashed.

Since they were standing up, Riku caught her before she could fall – even though she wouldn't hurt herself because it was just sand – and carried her back to her bed.

As he put her down in her bed, he whispered, "Good night, Melody Kneller," and walked out the door.


	10. Sparks

**_I AM SO SO SORRY I COULDN'T GET THIS UP EARLIER! AND THAT IT'S SO SHORT!!_**

I had a really bad writer's block in the middle of this - it was so bad i couldn't write for like two or three weeks!

**And now I have to start applying to high schools and take the ISEE's and I need to work a lot! And then there's always even more school work! This year is going to be _HECTIC _in terms of school work!**

_ I really am sorry! But I hope you enjoy anyway! Please R & R :))_

* * *

**Chapter 10**

Melody slept through _two whole days, _sleeping as if she were dead. It was the deepest sleep she'd ever had, since she hadn't fallen asleep for a few days beforehand. Riku was checking on her constantly, making sure she was still in the land of the living, not in a coma, and things like that. When she finally woke up, the first thing that came out of her mouth was, "Was that a dream?"

She yawned and looked at the clock – one PM? Not too bad … until she saw the date – "It's _Sunday_?" She said, bewildered. "Yep, it was definitely a dream. I could never fall asleep like that, for two days _straight_."

'_Such a shame_,' she thought. _'I wish it wasn't a dream – that Riku finally realized I was Melody Kneller and not Serena Anholts, that Riku told me about what really happened that day when Selphie said she loved Riku. But, most of all, when Riku sang to me – of course that was a dream! Riku doesn't sing, not for anyone. And of course it was a dream the way he whispered "Goodnight, Melody Kneller" as he put me in my bed…' _

She shook her head and got out of bed. Melody got a bite to eat, and then decided to go see if Sora was still talking to her.

When Melody saw Sora sitting on the beach – alone – she got skeptical. "Sora? What are you doing out here?"

He turned his head around. "Mel?"

"Yeah." She paused. "Sorry I haven't been talking lately." Melody started talking faster. "I've just been really upset and I couldn't—"

Sora chuckled. "Mel, it's okay. I understand." He sighed.

"What's wrong?"

"Kairi won't _talk_ to me. Riku won't_ stop_ talking to me. I wish it would reverse."

Melody laughed. "I can see why you'd want that. Why isn't Kairi talking to you?"

"Well, the reason _why _Kairi won't talk to me is because _Riku _won't _stop _talking to me. He won't stop talking about this specific … subject … and Kairi is getting really annoyed by it."

Melody's eyebrows furrowed. "Kairi doesn't seem the type that gets mad by silly things like that – no offense," she added. There was a pause. "Besides, what made her so upset that Riku was talking about?"

"Melody Kneller," said Sora. Melody was surprised – Sora almost always _never _called her by her full name. "Do you _not _know that you slept for two whole days straight?"

'_So it wasn't a dream!' _thought she. "I thought I did … so does that mean that I really saw Riku?"

"Yes, Mel. And that's what he can't stop talking about. But I don't know why Kairi won't talk to me still or why it annoys her."

Melody chuckled. "I think I know why. Think like a girl, Sora – no, wait, never mind – but use your head; Kairi gets jealous _easily_, remember? I think she just wanted a topic change. And Riku wouldn't leave you alone, right? So she knew that wouldn't happen and she wouldn't be able to talk to you anytime soon. She probably just needed to get away."

Sora just stood there. "I'm so _stupid_! But what does she have to be jealous for?"

Melody rolled her eyes. "Well, let's see—"

Now Sora rolled _his _eyes. "Yeah, but she _knows _we're just friends."

Melody shrugged. "True, but, like I said, Kairi gets jealous easily. So – what are you waiting for? – Go after her!"

Sora smiled impishly and nodded once. He took off sprinting. Melody smiled in spite of him and sighed. '_Typical Sora_,' she thought.

* * *

"Kairi?"

"Sora?" Pause. "Is Riku with you?"

"Nope. Just me."

Sigh. "Oh, okay." Another pause. "Sorry about before, I was just—"

Sora raised his hand up to stop her. "Kairi, it's fine. I understand."

Kairi ran up to Sora and attacked him with a bear-tight hug. Sora hugged back instantly and blushed. Kairi couldn't see, but through the hug, Sora was smiling. **(A/n: sound familiar? In one of Riku's flashback's Mel and Riku hugged and the same thing happened: **_Riku was about to leave, but then Melody hugged him. Riku hugged back instantly. Melody couldn't see, but through the hug, Riku was smiling._**)**

**

* * *

**'_Well, it's about time they got together! I was starting to think that Sora didn't like Kairi anymore – Hah! – Sora not like Kairi? Is that even possible?' _thought Melody. _'Whatever. At least _they _got their happy ending.'_ She sighed and shook her head gently. _'Oh well. I'm happy for them._

'_Am I really? Yes, I'm happy for them! Happier than I ever could be! Sora is like my brother, so I should be happy for him! He's liked Kairi for such a long time now, that he deserves this. I'm _so _happy for them! I'm happy for them. I'm happy for them. I'm happy for them…_

'_If I'm so happy for them, why am I jealous?'_

Whenever Melody would listen to the radio, the song Fall For You would come on. Only, she wouldn't hear it the way it was sung – she could only hear it the way Riku sang for her. Which is when she realized that there was a note in her room. It was written in messy handwriting, but it was a neat kind of messy. Big, slanted letters were written across the paper.

_Meet me at _our _spot. 3 PM, sharp._

Melody didn't even have to guess as to who had left the note. Riku wanted to meet her at _'their_' spot, which was a hidden cave that was small, but cozy. It was different from Sora and Kairi's cave; when they were smaller, Sora and Kairi drew pictures of each other giving the other a paupu fruit on the walls of their cave. In Riku and Melody's cave it was … different…

It was a dimly lit place, and there were two chair-shaped rocks in one of the corners of the cave that were facing each other. The cave was fairly big, but it was still cozy. It made a great hideout place in the winter, because there was a small dent in one of the walls of the cave where you could put firewood. There was also one small hole at the roof of the cave, which was used as a source of light. When it was sunny outside, it was so _beautiful _inside the cave because you would be able to see the ray of sunshine and the dust mites nearby. The cave was located beneath one of the high boardwalks and the entrance was pretty hard to find. Only Riku and Melody knew about it – not even Sora knew where it was.

_Flashback:_** (A/n: this is BEFORE Riku tells Melody that he loves her)**

_"Hey, Riku."_

_"Hey, Mel."_

_Pause. "So, were you serious about before?"_

_"Well, yeah, I mean—"_

_"So, you really do like me, Riku?"_

_Nod, with difficulty. '__**That's an understatement**__,' he thought._

_Melody ran up to Riku and hugged him so tight he couldn't breathe._

_End of Flashback. _**(A/n: notice a pattern? About whenever people get together?)**

As Melody entered the cave, a dark shadow emerged from one of the corners. Melody would've gotten scared silly if she hadn't heard the shadow say, "So I take it you found my note?"

Riku stepped out of the dark and she could now see only half of his face (because the light was shining on it). Melody couldn't say anything.

Riku stepped closer to her. "You know, Mel, I can't believe I didn't recognize you from before – I've never seen another pair of eyes like yours."

"Riku, _a lot _of people have brown—"

"Yes, a lot of people have brown eyes. But_ your_ eyes are different." Pause. "The texture of them, the color they are when the light shines on them – sure, they look brown now! But when the light shines on them, they look like a light chestnut. And the texture – I've never seen anything like it! The texture of your eyes looks like spider webs! It's… amazing."

Silence. "You know, Riku, when I first found out that I knew you from before – I thought the same thing: '_How stupid am I? How could I NOT have recognized those eyes from before?!'" _

Pause. "Wait, you never answered my question from last time; are you still going out with Hayner?"

"Off topic, much? But, no. We broke up."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

Snort. "Sure you are."

"Are you in 'mourning' or whatever?"

"Hahah, no. That ended the night we met at the beach."

Moves closer. "Really?" Barely a murmur.

Whisper, "_Really_."

And as Riku leaned in to kiss Melody – for the first time in his _life_ **(A/n: this is the first time they're _actually _getting together besides when they were younger, and back then they were too young to kiss) **– he realized that not only was he holding his breath, but so was she. "Breathe."

They exhaled at the same time and Melody threw her arms around his neck, Riku pulling her closer by the waist. "Melody, I've been wanting to do this for the longest time. You've no idea."

"I think I do. You're not the only one, you know."

"Well—"

"Riku, just _shut_ up and kiss—"

But Riku didn't even let her finish her sentence. He leaned in slowly, trying to make the moment last. When their lips met, Melody felt an electrifying sensation – the one she felt every time Riku touched her.

Sparks.


	11. A Beautiful Lie, No Mere Coincidence

Hey everyone! Looks like I was able to get another chapter up here pretty soon, huh? **This chapter has a lot of Miku (MelodyxRiku) fluff!**

_Please R & R! Enjoy :)_

* * *

**Chapter 11**

The two couples were sitting by the dock casually, talking amongst themselves.

Out of all of them, of course Melody was the one having flashbacks or being deep in thought. She snorted out of nowhere, and everyone looked at her.

"Mel?"

"Sorry. I just had this thought…"

Sora sighed. "Typical of you to be the only one who's not in this conversation."

"Hey! It's not my fault I have a drifty mind!" Melody smiled and looked at Riku. Riku smiled back as she snuggled further into his chest. "Right, Riku?"

Riku exhaled. "Right." Pause. "What were you thinking about anyway?"

Melody looked out into the horizon, where the ocean and sunset met. She sighed and smiled dreamily as she said. "Oh, nothing." Then when everyone else gave her a "tell us or die" look, she said, "I was just thinking—"

"—What else is new—?" muttered Kairi teasingly.

Melody gave Kairi a look and continued, "—about how I never would've thought that we'd _all _end up with each other. I mean, I thought I'd never see Riku again when I left, and I thought, at this rate, Sora would never make a move on Kairi." Melody grinned teasingly at Sora when she said the last part of the sentence. "I mean, who would've thought that me and Hayner would break up so quickly?" She paused. "Hey, d'you know what I just noticed?"

"What is it, Mel?" said Riku.

"Remember how Hayner said he loved me?" Riku winced. "I'll take that as a yes. Well, don't you think it's funny that only some time after he 'confesses his love for me' and all that mush, he starts becoming distant and breaks up with me?"

"Well, he broke up with you because the long distance relationship wasn't working out, didn't he?" asked Kairi.

"Yeah, but if he really truly completely _love _me like he said he did, he would do something about it! Like … I don't know… convince me to move into Olette's so that he can see me everyday or something like that! Or kidnap me from Leon—"Riku winced again—"or do _something_! Don't you think?"

"I don't know, Mel," said Sora slowly, "I'm sure it's just—"

"He never loved me," whispered Melody slowly. "What a beautiful lie."

"Aw, come on, Mel, I'm sure he wouldn't just pretend."

"Riku, I'm sure he would! I'm sure he _did_."

After a long argument it was clear that no one was going to win. Melody was being stubborn, and everyone else was trying their best to reason with her.

"Well, if he did, I'll beat the crap out of him." Riku ended the argument. Then he said genuinely, "You still have feelings for him, don't you?"

"Well, I love him, but not in the way I love you – does that make sense?"

"Yeah," said Riku squarely. _'Does this mean I have competition?' _he thought.

Melody knew what he was thinking. She rolled her eyes and pecked him on the lips. "There is _no _competition."

Riku smiled and everyone went their separate ways.

* * *

As soon as Melody got home, she ran for her bed, and lie down there deep in thought.

_'_Would _Hayner fake something like that? He never did strike me as that type. Who would be so cruel as to fake that they love someone like that?'_ Melody shuddered as a tear rolled down her face.

_Flashback:_

_Melody Kneller sighed as she exited her white house with teal window shades for the last time. She wondered if she'd ever come back. __**'Probably not,**__' she thought, '__**Riku will still be here.**_**' **

_Little Melody sighed as she opened the car door and said goodbye to this place she called home. She looked outside her window and saw two boys and a redheaded girl playing with each other. Tears started flowing freely down her face._

_"It all started with a lie," she mumbled to herself, her voice trembling. "What a beautiful lie."_

_End of Flashback._

After that flashback, Melody felt as if there was a big hole in her chest, and she couldn't breathe. Melody fell asleep holding herself that night. Holding herself together.

"Mel? Mel, what's going on?" Riku said, shaking Melody gently so she would wake up.

Melody slept for a few hours, but when Riku found her in her bed, her face was blue and arms turned a different color – by holding herself, she had cut off her circulation.

Melody fluttered her eyes open, and starting breathing rapidly, catching her breathe. She realized she was still holding herself, and let go. "Riku? What time is it?"

"It's three in the morning. Listen, are you sure you're okay? You look a little … under the weather."

"I'm fine." Pause. "I'm fine," she said, reassuring herself this time. "Wait, _it's three in the morning?_!"

"Yeah. I couldn't fall asleep. And I had a feeling you were a bit … off."

"How did you know?"

Riku put his hand on the left side of his chest, where his heart was. "My radar."

Melody patted the bed. "Lie down," she said, scooting over.

Riku came into her bed, and held her close to him. The hole in Melody's chest was now long gone, and she felt alive. Riku was stroking her hair and looking into her eyes as he asked her in the dark, "What's bothering you, Mel?"

She hesitated. "I don't know, my revelation from earlier today is really bothering me. About Hayner," she added.

"Oh."

"Yeah. I'm sorry, Riku. I mean, yes, I _am _over him, it's just that I still love him – like a brother, I guess – and if he really did fake me out, well, that's just something I have to know." She was shaking with anger. "I'd be so mad…. And what if this ruins _us_? I don't ever want to have to break up with you, Riku. Especially because of one guy…" her voice was trembling with rage.

Riku held her closer. "Shh… it's alright. We have each other now. Do you need me to stay the night?"

Melody nodded. "Yes."

It was now that Melody noticed Riku was only wearing boxer shorts, and she remembered that she herself was only wearing an undershirt and underwear.

"Sweet dreams, love."

"Sweet dreams, Riku."

When Melody woke up the next morning, she totally forgot that Riku slept over. She was surprised at first, but stopped herself from screaming as to not wake up Riku. She looked at her clock – only nine in the morning? – Oh, she could sleep a little bit longer. So Melody snuggled into Riku's chest, and as Riku's grip on her tightened unconsciously, fell asleep.

_Melody's Dream:_

_"Ha, I can't believe you fell for all of that! You're so gullible, Serena."_

_"Hayner, that's not funny! And my name is Melody, not Serena!"_

_"Whatever, Serena." Hayner laughed. "I never loved you, fool. Seifer dared me to say that I did."_

_**'It's just like what happened with Riku a long time ago,' **__thought Melody. "You know what, Hayner? Screw you! Go rot in hell!"_

_He laughed darkly and smirked. "That's all you could come up with?"_

_Melody shook her head. "What has gotten into you?" She walked up to him and touched his cheek. His facial expression changed from smug, to tenderness. "Why are you like this? I still think there's the same Hayner way, way deep down."_

_Hayner stepped back from her. "Yeah? What do you know? Especially now that you're with Riku…" he said, disgustedly._

_"How did you know I'm with Riku?"_

_"Word travels fast. Plus, I could see you two love each other."_

_"Yeah, it's a long story. I'll just say this: we KNEW each other from a long time ago, and we still have feelings for each other."_

_"Oh. Wow." He paused and put on his smug, arrogant face. "Why should I care?"_

_"Are you hanging out with Seifer now, Hayner?"_

_"That is none of your business, Serena."_

_"FOR PETE'S SAKE, MY NAME IS MELODY!"_

_"Who's Pete? Someone I should know about?"_

_Melody rolled her eyes. "There we go. Whatever. I don't know why I try. I'm out of here."_

_"Wait! Serena!"_

_**'He said my name the way he did the first time we met and the first time me and Riku met (when I was Serena Anholts)…' **__she thought. "What do you want this time, Hayner?!"_

_"Do you love him?"_

_"That's none of your business, Hayner," she said, mocking him from before._

_"Fine. But do you still love me?"_

_Melody froze. "That's not fair…"_

_"Answer the question. Do you still love me, or not?"_

_"Y-yes. But not in the way that I love Riku."_

_Hayner's expression changed, once again. From smug, to sadness._

_Melody's eyes widened. "Get. Away. From. Me. Now."_

_"Melody." His voice was strained. "Mel. Hear me out."_

_"No. No. No. As soon as I so much as __**hint **__that there's no chance, you jump right in. But if I didn't, would you let me fall?" She shook her head. "I think I know the answer."_

_Melody and Hayner exchanged glances. In Hayner's eyes, Melody could see what exactly was going on. "Hayner, you have to listen to me. If you really did love me, you would do me this one last favor, okay? Now, listen to what I'm saying:_

_"I still love you, is that so hard to see? But that's not the point. Maybe like a brother, or something – I don't know anymore! Anyways, you __**need **__to stop hanging out with Seifer, do you hear me? Look at what he's turned you into! If you heard yourself now, you wouldn't like you. Go back to hanging out with Olette, Pence, and Roxas. Do you hear me? If-you-love-me, -stop-hanging-out-with-Seifer!"_

_Melody and Hayner were now drifting slowly apart. There was pain in Hayner's eyes as he said, "Anything for you, Mel. It's the least I could do."_

_"So long, Hayner. I guess this really is goodbye."_

_"G-goodbye, Melody. Take care of yourself."_

_End of Flashback._

During the dream, Melody was tossing and turning in Riku's arms violently, which made it impossible for Riku not to wake up. "Mel, is everything alright?"

"Fine. Just fine."

"You were talking in your sleep."

_'I hope he didn't hear anything crucial_.' "What did I say?"

"You said something like 'screw you! Go rot in hell!'" Riku gave her a confused look.

"I had the weirdest dream, you probably don't want to hear it."

"I probably do."

"Trust me – you probably don't."

"Oh yeah? Try me."

Melody sighed. "Okay, fine. Just know that you asked for it." And she told him about her dream.

"Wow. That's … interesting."

"I told you, you wouldn't want to hear it!"

Riku smiled. "What can I say? When you're right, you're right."

There was a moment of silence. Melody took in the fact that it was morning, and she slept the night safely in Riku's arms. She sighed and stroked his cheek.

"You know I love you, right?" said Riku, placing his hand on her cheek and putting his face only inches from hers.

"I know," Melody whispered, her eyes searching his. She closed the space in between them and kissed him passionately.

"Wow, I should stay over more often." He smiled.

Melody laughed and positioned her body over his. "You don't have to stay over to get _this_," she said as she leaned down to kiss him passionately again. She was now on top of Riku, her hands interlocked with his.

After a while, Riku froze and pulled away. "I … you … wow…."

"Riku? Is everything okay? Why'd you pull away?"

"It's too much … I can feel my heart pounding in my chest."

Melody placed her hand on her chest lightly. "Me too," she whispered. "But …"

Riku interrupted her and kissed her passionately, doing exactly what Melody did to him before – he was now on top of her, his hands interlocked with hers. "But that doesn't mean we should stop."

She smiled through the kiss, broke it, and said, "I'm glad you agree," still smiling.

* * *

"Sora, when are they going to come?! It's already noon, and they said they'd be here by now!"

"I don't know, Kairi. Neither Riku nor Melody called me to tell us that they aren't coming."

"Hm… I think something's up…."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Riku _and _Melody _both _didn't come, right?"

Sora sighed. "Alright, alright. Let's check Mel's house first. It's closer."

* * *

Melody sighed and looked up at Riku, who was holding her tightly. "Riku?"

"Hm?"

"Can you like move in or something? We could do this like every morning!" Melody said with a grin. She was joking, but she kind of meant it anyway.

Riku laughed. "Mel, you know I would want to move in, but my parents and Leon wouldn't—"

"You could have the guest room. No one uses that."

They both laughed at the same time and said, "Yeah. Sure."

_Knock, knock._

"Hold on a sec!" said Melody. She whispered to Riku, "Quick! Get under the covers! And make yourself a little air hole so you can breathe!"

Riku held her hand, and she cleared her throat. "Okay, come in!"

Sora and Kairi walked in the room. "Hey Mel," said Sora, "we were just wondering why you didn't show up at the dock today. Remember, we made plans?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I must have slept through. I just woke up like ten minutes ago."

"That's okay," said Kairi.

Sora eyed Melody suspiciously. "If I didn't know better, Mel, I'd say that you didn't wake up ten minutes ago."

Melody's eyes widened. "W-what do you mean?"

"Riku, we know you're here. You can come out from under the covers."

Riku cursed under his breath, and came out from the covers. "Um, hi."

Sora and Kairi raised their eyebrows at the same time and Kairi said, "I think you owe us an explanation."

Riku snorted. "The only thing we owe you is—"

"No need to snap," snapped Sora.

Melody scoffed. "Look who's talking! And maybe _Kairi _hadn't been so demanding, he wouldn't have to!"

Kairi said to Melody, "Hey, back off!"

Everyone started talking at the same time, each couple defending their side. Then, of course, an angry Leon came in saying, "Can you guys stop shouting? I'm trying to get work done! Just make up already!"

Riku and Melody exchanged glances and laughed. If only Leon had changed his last sentence – just exchange the word "up" for another word, a three lettered word...

Sora and Kairi exchanged confused glances.

* * *

The next day, Melody got a call from Olette.

"Hey Melody!"

"Um, hey Olette," she said, surprised by the call.

"What's new?"

"Nothing, I guess. Except that I have a new boyfriend. You know, Riku. What's with you?"

"Oh, same old same old. Except for – did I tell you? Hayner left our group. He joined Seifer instead."

"Seriously?" said Melody in shock. Did this mean that her dream was no mere coincidence?

"Seriously. But he came back to us just a few hours ago! How strange is that?"

"Pretty strange. Usually when someone joins forces with Seifer, they never return."

"Exactly! But you know what's even stranger?"

"What?"

"Hayner told us that the reason why he came back was because _you _told him to."

Melody didn't respond for some time. "Are you for real?!"

"No joke. So, did you tell him? He said something about you in a dream, but I wasn't that surprised." Melody could tell Olette was grinning.

"Haha, funny. But yeah, I had a dream with him in it, and in that dream I did tell him to stop hanging out with Seifer…. So I guess people really can communicate with each other through dreams. I always wanted to know that." _'This makes so much sense! That's why I kept having those dreams, when I was younger, of R—' _Melody's thoughts got interrupted by Olette's response.

"Are _you _for real?"

Melody smirked. "No joke." She frowned when she remembered the dream, the dream she had last night. "Hey, Olette, I have to go now, but I'll talk to you later. Bye."

"Bye, Mel."

They hung up, and Melody rushed up to her bed and buried her face into her pillow. She thought for a while of what had just happened, and from that what she had just realized was that – no, he wasn't joking when he said he loved her, he meant it. Yes, Hayner really did _still_ love her. And no, there was _nothing_ he could do now to get her back.

That wasn't a bad thing, considering Melody was so much happier with Riku. Riku was her sunshine on a rainy day, the peanut butter with her jelly, the salt with her pepper, but…

"Still," Melody murmured into her pillow. "It's no mere coincidence." She paused. "What a lie. What a beautiful, beautiful lie."


	12. Murphy's Law

**Sorry I couldn't get this posted earlier! I have a lot of schoolwork and high school stuff to do.**

**Please R&R!  
Enjoy!****

* * *

**

**Chapter 12**

'_Whatever, it's no big deal right? I can just go on living my life the way I would've if I didn't know…' _thought Melody, '_… that Hayner was still, according to Olette, 'completely and irrevocably' in love with me!  
__'How am I supposed to act around Riku? Do things go back to the way they were? Do I go to Twilight Town to see Hayner?' _But all of her questions got one answer: '_I don't know. This,' _thought Melody, _'is where Kairi comes in.' _

And, indeed, Melody did talk to Kairi about what happened. At first Kairi was speechless, about the whole "dream thing", according to Melody. Her advice was this: "What I'm about to say is really corny, okay?" She paused. "Follow your heart. What does it say? Stay with Riku or Hayner? Or neither?" Melody was about to say something, but Kairi stopped her. "I understand that you don't love Hayner the way you love Riku. You said you loved Hayner a like a brother, right?"

"Kai, I don't know anymore…"

Kairi looked shocked. She hit Melody lightly once on each cheek, as if to make sense out of her. "Mel, listen to me! You moved out of town, changed your name, and left your life behind _because of Riku _when you were younger. You didn't really do anything _near _that when Hayner broke up with you!"

"Yes, but when I was younger I had different feelings for Riku."

Kairi sighed and nodded her head sadly. "I think what you need to do is figure yourself out for a while – see which one you _truly _love. But," she added, "This may mean you need to break up with Riku…"

Melody nodded solemnly and whispered, "I know." Melody wanted to know, once and for all, if she really _did _still love Hayner like that. But in order to find out, there was a catch – she'd need some time to herself, some space to herself.

She'd need to break up with Riku, which is exactly what she _didn't _want to do.

_'Once and for all,' _she repeated in her head. _'C'mon, this will be the last time I'll ever think that there's a possibility that I love Hayner more. So I've got to this, no matter how much I don't want to._

_'I have to know. For sure'_

* * *

Melody waited for that hour, the one when she told Riku she'd meet him at the mall. It was urgent, Mel said. The day went by so slowly, and she could've sworn that by the time it was five o'clock PM, it was really ten o'clock, just Leon changed the time on the clocks in their house or something.

She realized, though, that it really was five o'clock when she saw Riku running up to her in the mall. "Mel! What's up?!"

Melody looked into his eyes and gently touched his arm. "Riku, I need to talk to you…"

Riku sensed where this was going. His face fell. "You're not… we're not… are we?"

Melody sighed, and her breaths were uneven. "Riku, I love you with all my heart. Really, I do."

Riku sighed in relief. "For a second I though you were going to break up—"

Melody raised her hand for him to stop talking. "But… things have happened. Things have changed, rather." There were tears in her eyes when she said the next sentence: "I'm so sorry Riku, we can't be together anymore."

Melody turned around and started to walk away, but Riku grabbed her by the sleeve of her shirt and said, "W-wait, what? Whatever it is, I'm sure we can work this out!"

Melody nodded her head solemnly. "It's not you Riku, it's me—"

"Oh, please, don't give me that crap, Mel!" Melody looked at Riku, shocked. "We both know how in lovewe are with each other, I mean look at our past! Don't you think that we were seriously _destined _to be together? This isn't just some coincidence, Mel!" His eyes were pleading. "Please, Melody, we can work this out. You know you can tell me anything."

Tears were now flowing freely down Melody's face. "I-I know, Riku. Really. It's just that … I need sometime to think things through."

"Mel – think _what _through?"

"Ever since I had that dream, the one with Hayner in it—"

Riku looked down. "Say no more," he said, and then he walked away while Melody burst out crying.

* * *

Sora sighed. "Mel, you're never going to learn are you?"

"Huh? Sorry Sora, what were you talking about?"

Sora sighed again. "Whatever. Mel, what's wrong? You're really depressed today…"

"Sora, I… I broke up with Riku."

"_WHAT?!_" Sora paused. "Oh!" He smiled. "You're kidding, right?"

Melody shook her head, her cheeks tear-streaked. "No, I would never joke about something like that."

"Wow," Sora breathed, "I never thought I'd see the day when Mel and Riku would be apart…" Then he said in a louder voice, "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" And he ran around the room in small circles, looking like an idiot. "Why, Mel? Why'd you do it?"

"Ever since I had that dream, the one with Hayner in it—"

Sora raised his hand to stop her from talking, and shook his head. "Say no more."** (A/n: Sora and Riku had the same reaction o.0)**

Sora and Melody exchanged glances. Next thing they knew, Melody was in Sora's arms like a child, crying her eyes out.

* * *

It had been a day or two after Melody broke up with Riku. She and Kairi were talking about what she should do now. Maybe Melody could go see Hayner? Kairi wanted to know. Melody didn't know what to do; would she be (emotionally) okay to go see Hayner? Kairi told her that, hey, it's not like you're making a decision on which she's going to _marry_. Melody said it'd still be hard for her, but that Kairi was right. Of course she was, Kairi said grinning. Melody rolled her eyes and went to catch the next train to Twilight Town.

Melody had called Olette to warn her that things might "get ugly", but Olette reassured her and said that they probably won't. Melody asked Olette what she meant by that, but all she could say was that it would "work out" somehow.

Melody sighed as she got off the train and stepped into the familiar streets of Twilight Town. '_That's where I used to live,_' she thought. '_And that's where Hayner and me—' _Speak of the devil! There _he _was.

Melody ran up to Hayner. "Hayner!"

Hayner stood there in shock. "Mel?!"

"You're not still hanging out with Seifer, are you?"

Hayner nodded his head "no", and grinned. "Thanks to you."

Melody stood there and awkwardly scratched the back of hear neck. "I, er, take it that we did communicate through a dream?"

"Well, yeah." Hayner paused. "Melody, tell my the real reason why you're here."

"Huh?"

"Aren't you still with _Riku_?!"

"No, I broke up with him."

Hayner stood there, inarticulate. "You … what?! I thought you so called loved him in ways that you didn't love me! We could—"

"_No_, Hayner. The reason I broke up with him is because I needed time to think about my feelings for him versus my feelings for you. So I came to see you and see how you were doing and all that…"

"Oh, well things are okay, I guess…. Wait, does this mean that if you love me more than him, we'll get back together?"

Melody rolled her eyes but couldn't help to grin. "Don't get your hopes high, Hayner."

Hayner's eyes lit up, and he showed Melody around all the new places in Twilight Town – apparently, while she was gone, there was a lot of construction and new stores were built.

"Oh, did I tell you?" Hayner said. "They added a Hollister here! You always wanted one, remember?"

_'Wow, I can feel Hayner's energy rebound off me.' _She thought. Melody laughed aloud. "Yeah, I remember." She paused. "In some ways, I wish I never left here."

Hayner stopped short. "What?"

Melody looked down, wishing she never said that. "Well, I wish I never met Riku again. I wouldn't know what I was missing."

"Oh."

* * *

The whole time Melody spent time with Hayner, she enjoyed it, but she finally realized that she didn't feel the way she did when she and Riku spent time. She enjoyed how lively and energetic Hayner was, but she soon remembered that that was probably only because he knew he _might _have a shot of getting back together with Melody.

Not anymore, though. **(A/n: :)) **And Hayner knew it, too.

_'How sad is that, though? __This was so stupid__! So Riku and me broke up for nothing?! That wasted a week of my life I could've spent with him! Ugh!' _she thought. _'Life's a bi—'_

"Bikini?"

"Huh?"

"Um, you left this in my room, Mel," said Leon, holding up a bikini by the straps, as if he was afraid to touch it.

Melody laughed at that. "Sorry." She paused, going pale. "That's not mine." There was another pause. "Aerith?"

Leon's face went pink and he left the room. **(A/n: o.0 lol)**

* * *

Melody was walking around in the Destiny Islands Mall, listening to the music playing on the speakers and looking at all the stores – Abercrombie, Hollister (!), Old Navy, Urban Outfitters, and more. A song comes on; Shattered, by O.A.R.:

_In a way, I need a change  
From this burnout scene  
Another time, another town  
Another everything  
But it's always back to you_

_Stumble out, in the night  
From the pouring rain  
Made the block, sat and thought  
There's more I need  
It's always back to you_

_But I'm good without ya  
Yeah, I'm good without you  
Yeah, yeah, yeah_

_How many times can I break till I shatter?  
Over the line can't define what I'm after  
I always turn the car around  
Give me a break let me make my own pattern  
All that it takes is some time but I'm shattered  
I always turn the car around_

_I had no idea that the night  
Would take so damn long  
Took it out, on the street  
While the rain still falls  
Push me back to you_

_But I'm good without ya  
Yeah, I'm good without you  
Yeah, yeah, yeah_

_  
_**Melody felt someone tap her on the shoulder. "Sora?"**

**"Guess again."**

**"Riku, how many times do you think I can break 'till I shatter?"**_  
_

_How many times can I break till I shatter? _

**"Haha, funny, Mel."**

_Over the line can't define what I'm after  
_**"It wasn't a joke, Riku!" She nodded her head. "I don't even know what I'm after, anymore. I don't know what I want!"**

_I always turn the car around_

**"More like, **_**who**_** you want, right Mel?"**

_Give me a break let me make my own pattern _

_All that it takes is some time but I'm shattered _

**"Give me a break Riku, give me some time to let me deal with my own problems."**

_I always turn the car around _

**Riku sighed. "You know I can never be mad at you."**

_  
Give it up, give it up, baby  
Give it up, give it up, now  
Now_

_How many times can I break till I shatter?  
Over the line can't define what I'm after  
I always turn the car around  
All that I feel is the realness I'm faking_

"**I was faking it. I realized… I never loved Hayner… I just thought I did, because I knew he loved me. It's psychological – when you know someone loves you, think you love them back."**

_Taking my time but it's time that I'm wasting _

**"Mel, so we basically just wasted a week of not-being-together?"**

_Always turn the car around  
_**Melody smiled sadly. "Basically."**_**  
**__How many times can I break till I shatter?  
Over the line can't define what I'm after  
I always turn the car around  
_

"**Bye, Riku."**

**"Bye, Mel."**

_  
Don't wanna turn that car around  
_**They went their separate ways, but when they were a few feet apart, they turned around and ran towards each other. As Riku caught Melody, they shared a long, passionate kiss.**

_I gotta turn this thing around_

* * *

Melody nodded her head in disagreement. "I know you're just saying that. It _was _stupid of me to break up with you like that, for that reason, and you know it."

Riku nodded his head too, just as stubborn. "No, Mel. You needed to figure things out for a while, I understand perfectly. It wasn't stupid."

"Riku, last time I said that I didn't want to break up with you because of _some guy_, remember? Well, it happened and I feel horrible!"

"It's _fine_, Melody. I really do understand."

Melody shrugged. "Let's agree to disagree."

"No way. I'm not giving up 'til you agree with me."

"Oh, really? And how are you going to get me to agree with you?"

"By doing this," said Riku, straddling Melody and tickling her all over.

Melody started crying from laughter. "Riku…! Stop… I'm… very… tickle-ish…. Stop… can't… breathe…!"

Riku got off of her. He chuckled. "Sorry. So do you agree with me yet?"

Melody laughed too. "Hmm, I'm not quite convinced yet. But I know how to get you to agree with me."

"I'm not quite sure you can," challenged Riku with a smirk.

"Well, let's find out," said Melody lightly.

Melody pinned Riku down to her bed and whispered in his ear loftily. "Are you sure you still want me to see if I can get you to agree with me?"

Melody's whisper sent shivers down his back, and Riku shivered. He took a deep breath and braced himself for what could happen soon. "There's no way I'm backing down, if that's what you mean."

Melody shrugged nonchalantly. "Alright then."

She leaned down slowly, as if she was about to kiss Riku on the lips, but instead, she teased him. When their lips were about to meet, she pulled back abruptly and started tickling him mercilessly. "That's what you get!" she said, chuckling.

"That's not … fair! You … tortured … me!"

Melody stopped tickling him and laughed at his remark. "Oh, so now I'm torturing you?"

Riku flipped both of them around so that he was on top of Melody. "Well, you were, until now."

Melody rolled her eyes. "You're just going to do the same thing I did to you, aren't you?"

"You'll see." Riku leaned down, about to kiss Melody on the lips, but as their lips were about to meet he whispered, "You don't know how much torture that was," and he pressed his lips to hers. Melody could tell he was being sincere by the way he looked in her eyes.

Melody kissed back passionately, as though to make up for what happened before with her "torturing" Riku, and through the kiss she was able to mumble, "I'm sorry."

* * *

The phone in the Kneller household rang, and Leon picked up since he was the only one home. It was his boss from work

"Oh, hi Mr. Carlson. What? I thought you said you were done moving me around! Yes, sir. Of course. It's just my little sister, Melody. She won't be okay with that. Are you sure there's no way around this? All right, call me back if the situation changes."

Leon hung up and sunk to the floor. "Great," he mumbled. "Melody's going to hate me. Here we go again."

Just then, Melody burst in through the door. "Leon, you'll never guess!" She said, excited, her face glowing. Her cheeks were a rosy pink, from the slight chill outside.

"What is it, little sis?"

"Riku gave me a promise ring! Look at it! Look!"

Leon held Melody's arm and had a long stare at the ring. "Wow, sure is nice. How are you guys getting along?"

Melody's eyes were bright and wide. "Better than ever," she said. Leon could tell she meant it with all her heart.

"Hey, Mel, have your eyes always been that color? Light chestnut?"

"What are you talking about? They're not chestnut, Leon, they're just regular brown."

"Not anymore, take a look in the mirror."

Indeed, Leon was right. "Hmm, I don't know. Maybe it's from all the sun on the island."

Leon rolled his eyes. "Your skin can get tan, Mel, not your eyes."

Melody shrugged. "Whatever, I'm going upstairs. 'Night. Love you."

"You won't for long," Leon mumbled under his breath.

Melody ran upstairs and jumped into her bed, going through the events that happened that night:

_When it was 6 P.M., Melody left to go to Riku's house. Riku had told her he had a surprise for her, but Riku wouldn't budge no matter how many times Melody asked. His parents weren't home, and Riku didn't like being there alone. It gave him the creeps at night. Anyways, Melody rang Riku's doorbell, and – she counted – it took him exactly 2 seconds to answer._

_"Whoa, that was quick," Melody remarked.  
_

_"Yeah," Riku said out of breath. "I've been waiting for you to come."_

_"Sorry, am I late?"_

_Riku smiled. "No."_

_Melody entered the house, making an "O-kay…" face._

_"So," Riku asked, "do you want to order in for dinner? I would cook, but the only thing I know how to make is cereal and toast."_

_Melody chuckled. "Ordering in is fine. The usual pizza pie?"_

_Riku grinned. "Half olives half onions."_

_They ordered pizza and ate it in Riku's room._

_"Wow, Riku, you really cleaned this place up."_

_Riku said smugly, "I know."_

_Melody rolled her eyes and looked at Riku. "Well, I guess some things never change." She was referring to his smugness._

_"Speaking about the never-changing, Mel…" Riku hesitated, wondering if now was the right time._

_"What's wrong, Riku?"_

_Riku moved himself closer to Melody on his bed, and grabbed her hand. "My feelings for you are never-changing," he said. And he pulled out the ring._

_It was so perfect for Melody, in every way. The diamond was the shape of a star, no – the shape of a paupou fruit – and had little topaz stones outlining the diamond. Engraved on the ring was: __**So that we can be together, whenever, and wherever**__._

_Melody's jaw dropped. Next thing they knew, Melody attacked Riku. She gave him a tight hug and kissed him passionately._

_"Thank you," she whispered._

_Riku put the ring on Melody's finger. It fit perfectly._

_"This way, you can't break up with me," he joked._

_"Like I would want to!" she said. "Riku, I love you. And not just because of this ring."_

_"I know. I love you, too."_

Melody sighed and closed her eyes. This week has been amazing – Melody finally found out, once and for all, that she didn't _really _love Hayner the way she loves Riku, and Riku had just given her a promise ring.

What could go wrong?

* * *

**What could go wrong? Just about everything, Melody Kneller.**

**Murphy's Law: _"If anything can go wrong, it will"_ and something can go wrong, no matter what!**


	13. Don't Look Back

****

I posted this one a little later than planned so I could get a head start on the next chapter, so you guys wouldn't hate me :)

Please R&R! xD

* * *

**Chapter 13**

Melody, Riku, Kairi, and Sora were sitting at their spot, the dock. Melody was showing Kairi and Sora the promise ring Riku gave her.

"Aw, Riku!" said Kairi. "That's so sweet."

Riku made a face. "Don't get all mushy on me, Kairi."

Kairi was jumping up and down. "How can I _not_! Get over here, you big lump!"

Riku sighed. "I swear, by Kairi's reaction, you'd think _Kairi _and mewere going out."

Still, Kairi crushed him in a bear-tight hug, while Melody and Sora were watching them. Sora turned to Melody and smiled. "Well, Mel, congrats."

"Thanks, Sora." They hugged, too.

* * *

Melody entered the house that night, to find a troubled looking Leon. "Hey, Leon, what's wrong?"

"Melody, I need to talk to you…. You won't be happy."

Melody sat next to him on the couch. "Go ahead. I'm up for it." **(A/n: this is the moment you've all been waiting for!)**

"Well, my boss, Mr. Carlson called. Remember how I said we were done moving? Well, apparently not. He wants us to move to Traverse Town."

Melody stood up, outraged. "_What the heck, Leon! _You said we were done with that crap! Not _again! _What about _Riku and me_?! Huh?!"

"Mel, what do you want me to do?"

"QUIT! JUST QUIT ALREADY! Or tell _Mr. Carlson _– I mean, who does he think he is? – Tell him that you can move!"

"I can't just—"

"_You _can't just what? Well, _I_ can't just leave Riku _again!_ This time, I'm actually happy! Leon, _please!_" She paused, when he didn't respond. "When?"

"Mel, before I say, I just want you to know that I tri—"

_"When are we moving, damn it!_" she shouted.

"O-on Friday…"

"On _Friday_?! _Friday?!?! _AS IN LIKE FOUR DAYS?!" she said, her voice getting painfully shrill.

He sighed. "I'm so sorry, Mel. If it helps, I don't want to move either."

"_NO, it doesn't help_! That's not doing anything to stop it! You and I both know that you can do anything if you really want to, Leon! We've seen that before, so why are you stopping us now?"

Melody ran out the door and called someone. "Riku?" she said her voice shaky. "Can I sleepover? I'll tell you when I get there. Love you, too."

* * *

Melody rang Riku's doorbell. As soon as he opened the door, she ran into his arms and started crying hysterically. Riku shut the door after her, and carried her bridal style to the couch in the living room.

"Mel, what's wrong?" Melody couldn't talk. She couldn't stop crying, so Riku said, "It's okay, cry first and then tell me."

Then, after ten minutes, while Riku was holding Melody, patiently waiting for her to stop, she stopped crying. She took a few deep breaths. "Riku, my life is falling apart!"

He stroked her hair and held her closer. "What is it, Mel?"

She stopped crying, but tears were still flowing down her face. "Leon, he has to move again. I'm moving, Riku."

Riku froze. "W-what? I thought you said he was done with that!"

"Well, we all thought so too, but his boss called and told him that the plans have changed."

"When? When are you moving?"

She choked. "On Friday. Today is Tuesday. Four more days."

The corners of Riku's eyes went downwards, as if they were frowning. "I'll always love you, Mel. More than anyone else I'll ever meet."

"I'll always love you too, Riku. More than you've ever thought," she whispered. She snapped out of it. "No, we _are _not saying our goodbyes." **(A/n: I kinda got that from Titanic, lol :P you know, the scene where Jack and Rose escape, and they're in the water, and Rose is on a raft-type-thing and Jack is in the water near her)**

"Exactly. You're not moving, Mel. Not on my watch."

"How are you going to stop Leon from moving?"

"Well, it's not Leon I have to stop. It's his boss."

* * *

Riku put on a deep voice. "Hello? Yes, Mr. Carlson. This is … uh … Bob. Yes, Bob; from the real estate agency. I'm calling on account of the house that was bought in Traverse Town. Yes, house number 237 **(A/n: has anyone seen the movie The Shining?)**. So, about that house – I'm sorry, but we've had a higher offer. I can recommend—Hello? Mr. Carlson? _Hello_?!" Riku put on his normal voice and turned to Melody, "He hung up."

Melody sighed. "Well, at least you tried."

"Oh, no, it's not over. Yet."

Next, Melody called Leon.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Lee, it's Mel."

"_Melody Kneller! _Where have you been? That was no excuse to—"

"Chillax, Leon. I'm at Riku's—"

"Oh, now I'm relaxed," Leon murmured.

Melody cleared her throat. "Anyway, your boss just sent us a letter. I picked it up on the way to Riku's though, so don't worry."

"What'd it say?"

"It, uh, said that we don't have to move to Traverse Town after all."

"Hmm, really?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, I'll call him right now—"

"No! No, don't! Uh, I mean he said not to bother. It's okay, Leon."

"Whatever you say, Sis," he said. But a few minutes after he hung up the phone, he dialed Mr. Carlson's number. "Hello? Yes, sir, it's Leon. My sister said she got your letter, about not moving to Traverse Tow—what do you mean? You didn't send anything? So we're still moving? Okay, thanks, I just wanted to make sure. Good bye."

Leon hung up and sighed. "You'll never learn, will you, Mel?"

"No, when will you?" said an enraged voice.

_"Melody_?!" said Leon, surprised.

"Hmph. Riku's house is closer than you think, brother. But you'll never learn, will you?"

"I could say the same. What are you talking about?"

"You'll never learn not to take me away from my loved ones. Like some before – Hayner, and now Riku…."

There was a silence. "Fine," said Melody, "don't ask your boss if you don't have to move. I bet you didn't even _try _to change his mind! You're so … aggravating! Ugh! I'm going back to Riku's. Oh, and don't expect me to come back anytime soon."

As she went out the door, she turned around and said, "You know, just because _you_ don't know what it's like to be totally and completely in love with someone, doesn't mean you should punish _me_ for it."

* * *

Melody was going to spend the next couple of days over at Riku's place, so she could spend as much time with him as much as possible.

"Mel, did you tell Sora or Kairi yet?"

She nodded her head sadly. "Not _yet. _Riku, how should I break it to them?"

"I'm calling them right now." Riku dialed Sora's phone number. "Sora? Hi. Are you with Kairi right now? Good. I need you to come over to my house _right now_. Mel and I have to tell you guys something. It's extremely urgent. No, Mel and I aren't getting married! Just come over!"

Melody laughed. "What was that about?"

Riku rolled his eyes. "Sora thought that we were getting married. I mean I'm older than him, but we're still underage!"

Melody gasped. "What did you just say?"

Right then, Kairi and Sora burst through the door. "Riku?" Kairi asked. "What's going on?"

Riku looked at Melody. "Mel, you should tell them now."

Melody nodded. "Guys, you should sit down."

Kairi's eyes widened. "OH MY GOSH, MELODY!"

"What is it, Kai?"

"YOU'RE PREGNANT, AREN'T YOU?!"

Melody's jaw dropped. "What?! No! Of course not! I'm not like that!"

Kairi sighed. "Oh, okay good. I know that Riku can be—"

Riku gave her a warning glare. Melody looked at Riku and said, "What can Riku be?"

Riku scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Uh, well while you were gone…"

Melody froze. "I don't want to know…" She paused and looked at him, slightly hurt.

"It's not like that, or anything," he said quickly. "I just went out with a lot of girls, that's _all_." Riku looked at Kairi. "Why would you say that, Kairi?"

"Well—" Kairi started, but Riku gave her a glare, which made her stop talking abruptly.

"Guys, just take a seat already!" Melody yelled. Everyone sat down, and Melody told Sora and Kairi that she was moving to Traverse Town on Friday. "…and I'm _so _mad at Leon right now, see he said that we wouldn't be moving around anymore, but I guess not!"

Both Sora's and Kairi's expressions were miserable. "Mel," Sora said, hugging her so tightly, "Isn't there anything we could do? Couldn't you stay with one of us, and Leon will just go by himself? Or could we come with you?"

Melody nodded. "No, that wouldn't workout. Why? Because, one, your parents wouldn't let you move with us all the way to Traverse Town simply because you didn't want to see me go, and, two, Leon needs me to help around the house.

Kairi hugged Melody, too. "Mel, I know I'm not as close to you as Sora or Riku, but I will really miss you. I wish we could've spent more time with each other, and gotten closer."

Tears flew down Melody's face. Just seeing everyone in Riku's living room with the same expression – miserable, hopeless – it made her realize that she would probably never be with them altogether again. "Sleep over. Please. If it's okay with Riku."

They all exchanged glances. "My parents aren't going to be back until Sunday," said Riku. "Why not!"

Melody tackled everyone. "We need to make these last few days the best days ever!"

"Well, we really only have tomorrow, which is Wednesday, and Thursday, because it's already nighttime, and on Friday you're moving so we can't do anything," said Sora.

"Hmm, true. Well, can we _all _spend every moment of our time together on Thursday? Because I was thinking tomorrow it'd just be one last day for Riku and I, only. If you don't mind," she added.

So they agreed to it, understanding that Mel and Riku needed to spend a lot of time together before Melody was forced to go a separate way.

Sora and Kairi slept in the living room, on the couch. Melody and Riku slept in, of course, Riku's room.

As they crawled into bed, Riku said, with a hint of bitterness in his voice, "Funny. You'd think I would've guessed you'd have to move again, judging by your history. Our history."

Melody sighed. He had every right to be bitter. "I guess I should've known, too. I feel like we should do something about it, but I _know _nothing will work."

Riku pulled her closer and held her in his arms. "Let's not talk about this now. We have to spend as much time together as possible."

"I know, it's just that Leon doesn't know what it's like. He's never been in totally in love with someone before."

Riku smiled.

The next morning, Riku and Melody woke up at nine o'clock. They decided they were going to go all out – spend time on the beach, in their cave, and go to the Shake Shack **(A/n: also mentioned in chapter 8 :))**.

When they were on the beach, Riku said suddenly, "You know, Mel, when I met you for the second time – when you were Serena – I knew I loved you immediately. Does that sound foolish?"

Melody was startled, and it was noticeable because her eyes widened slightly. She recovered, and said, "No. Not at all! To be honest, I think it was the same with me. I just didn't want to admit it, because at the time I had a boyfriend already." She paused. "I think, that even though we 'forgot' that the other one of us existed, you still knew deep down that I was Melody, and I still knew that you were Riku. Does that make sense?"

"Yes. Yes it does." He sighed. "I knew it, too. From the moment I saw you fighting with that Heartless—"

Melody jumped up, her eyes full of worry. "That's right. The Heartless. Have they showed up since then?"

"Well, no—"

"Strange, isn't it? Usually when they show up, they keep coming 'till one side, light or dark, wins. But it wasn't a war they wanted, it was a single battle. Now _that_ doesn't make sense at all."

Next, Melody and Riku went to the cave for a few hours. They took it in – everything – the dim lighting, the two chair-shaped rocks in the corner that faced each other, the small dent in one of the walls (which could be used as a fireplace in the winter), and also a small hole at the roof at the cave, which could be used as a source of light. It was very beautiful when it was sunny, because inside the cave there would be one spot, because of the hole in the roof, where you would be able to see a ray of sunshine and the dust mites nearby.

As they entered the cave, Riku said, "Mel, please don't. Don't go."

Melody's face was full of sadness. "I don't want to, Riku, you know that. I want to stay here, with you. Forever."

"Forever? Are you sure? 'Cause that's a really long time," said Riku, jokingly, with a smirk on his face.

Melody smacked him lightly on the chest-shoulder area. "Don't be so full of yourself."

"Hmm, maybe, but that way we balance each other out. We complete each other."

Melody rolled her eyes.

"Except for that," he said. "That sarcasm."

"You know, you're not always as tough and macho as you think you are." There was a smile playing on Melody's lips.

Riku's eyes flickered. "Oh, really?"

"Like, last time, when you tickled me, and then I teased you, and you were all 'you don't know how much torture that was'. You can be really sweet, Riku."

"Nah," he said. "Only when I'm with you."

Next thing they knew, Melody and Riku were on one of the chair-shaped rocks making out with each other.

* * *

"Hey, guys, how was your day?"

"Eh. It was okay," said Melody, looking at Riku, grinning.

"Okay?" said Riku. "That's _it_?"

Melody shrugged. "Yeah."

"Mel, we made out for like three hours!"

Sora covered his ears. "I _didn't _need to know that!" he said, innocently, reminding Melody of a small child who just found out how babies are 'made'.

Melody slapped Riku on the arm. "Smooth, Riku! You just scarred Sora for life."

Sora looked at Melody. "Um… well… I'm not that innocent either…" He blushed.

Melody and Riku burst out laughing as Kairi came to see what was going on. "Hey guys, what's so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing," said Riku quickly through his laughter.

Kairi narrowed her eyes. "Hey, Riku, you have something on your cheek."

"Really? Where?"

"Right over…there," said Kairi, pointing a place on his cheek.

Riku turned to Melody. "You have to stop wearing lip gloss every time we make out," he joked.

* * *

The next day, Thursday, was the day that _everyone _was going to spend time with each other; but mainly Sora with Melody and Riku with Kairi, to mix it up.

Sora and Melody were walking on the beach. "Mel?"

"What is it, Sora?"

"I'm really going to miss you," he said. Melody could tell that he meant it, because his eyes spoke to her as well.

Melody squeezed Sora's arm lightly. "I miss you already," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "I tried so hard yesterday not to break down and cry, knowing that I had to make the most of my time with Riku."

"More like, most of your make out session," Sora teased.

"Hey, you said you weren't so innocent yourself!" Melody paused and raised her eyebrows. "What exactly did you mean by that, anyway?"

"Well, Kairi and I…"

"You didn't! … Did you?!"

"No, of course not! We just made out! Gosh!"

"Well, I'm _sorry_, but you thought Riku and I were getting married! And Kairi thought that I was knocked up!"

Sora cracked up.

To annoy him, she pinched his cheek and said, "Aw, wittle Sowa is gwowing up."

Sora's face crinkled in annoyance. "Stop!"

Melody laughed. "You know I'm just messing with you, Sora."

Sora smiled.

"Remember that promise we made when we were little? About being friends forever and being there for each other?"

Sora nodded slowly. "Yeah, what about it?"

"We should keep it. We should all still keep in touch."

Sora rolled his eyes. "Obviously. It still wouldn't be the same though."

Melody sighed. "Don't you think I know, Sora, don't you think I know…?"

That night, everyone ate pizza and watched a movie on Riku's plasma television in the living room. After the movie was over, everyone was lying down and talking, and soon decided to go to sleep.

Melody's last words that night were, "Guys, don't wake me up tomorrow. Because when I wake up, this _dream_, the one I'm in right now, ends."

"What dream?" said Sora, totally ruining the moment.

But Riku understood. "I'll let you sleep as late as you want."

Melody nodded, and she couldn't speak anymore, because there was a huge lump in her throat.

However, she was able to get rid of that lump somehow as Riku and her got into bed. Melody hugged Riku tightly and whispered, "Riku, don't let him make me leave you."

He stroked her cheek, and whispered lightly, "Melody, I love you."

She sighed. "I love you, too."

* * *

The next morning, Riku woke up at about 10 AM, but Melody was still asleep. He didn't dare move, in case he woke her up, so he just watched her sleep for another hour until she woke up.

Her eyes fluttered rapidly. "Riku," she whispered shakily when she woke up. "I don't want to leave."

Riku held her closer and kissed her forehead. "I don't want you to leave, either."

Riku and Melody went downstairs to the living room slowly, to find Sora and Kairi eating cereal.

"Hi, guys," said Melody.

"Wake up from that dream, Mel?" said Sora, who now, after Kairi had explained, knew what she meant by that last night.

"Unfortunately."

Everyone sighed at once and ate breakfast in silence.

Melody's phone rang. "Mel, you're phone's ringing!" said Kairi.

"Thanks," said Melody as Kairi handed her the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, Melody."

"Oh. Leon."

"Listen, you have to head over to our house now. We're leaving, the car is ready and everything."

Melody sighed. "On my way." She hung up and turned to everyone.

They were all watching her, their faces – especially Riku's – full of anticipation. "Y-you're not leaving _now, _are you?" Riku asked.

Melody whispered, "I'm so sorry."

"We'll come with you."

The walk there was quiet, but no one needed to talk – the vibe they were giving off spoke for itself: nobody, including Melody herself, wanted Mel to leave.

When they arrived, the car was already loaded up, and Leon was waiting patiently by the car door. "Alright, sis, time to go."

She sighed and turned to Kairi. "Kai, I wish we could've gotten closer. I'll miss you."

Kairi hugged Melody. "Likewise," was all she could say.

Next, Melody turned to Sora. "Sora, youare _the _best guy friend I will ever have. Do you know that? You're like my brother. I love you."

They hugged, and Sora said. "I love you, too, Mel. I'll miss you."

"Miss you too."

Now, Melody turned to Riku. She grabbed his hands. "Riku," she breathed. "You truly _are _the love of my life. I miss you already. But don't hold yourself back. Don't let me stand in the way of any other relationships you might have in the future." She didn't want to say those words at all, but she couldn't let Riku mope around.

Riku grabbed onto her by her waist, and gave her the most sweet, passionate kiss they ever shared. "Mel, you are the one for me. There will be no other relationships." From the car, there was music playing. Melody heard it clearly now.

_So breathe in so deep  
Breathe me in  
I'm yours to keep  
And hold onto your words  
'Cause talk is cheap  
And remember me tonight  
When your asleep_

_Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you  
Over again  
Don't make me change my mind  
Or I wont live to see another day  
I swear it's true  
Because a girl like you is impossible to find_

_Tonight will be the night that I will fall for you  
Over again  
Don't make me change my mind  
Or I wont live to see another day  
I swear it's true  
Because a girl like you is impossible to find  
You're impossible to find_

"Riku," she whispered, as she clung onto him tighter, "Riku, it's our song!"

There were tears in her eyes as she gave everyone a big group hug, and walk towards the car. She was half way through to the car, when she turned around to face everyone.

She hesitated, it was clear in her eyes. But it looked as if she was seeing something for the first time. Sora, Kairi, and Riku had no idea what was going on. She stood there for a few questions. Melody ran and tackled Riku in the tightest hug ever imaginable. "I'm not leaving," she said. "I can't."

"Mel, come on! Mr. Carlson has a deadline!" Leon said from inside the car.

Melody growled at Mr. Carlson's name. It was his entire fault they were moving again. "No," she said simply but firmly.

Leon got out of the car. "I know you don't want to do this, but please don't be so hard on me."

Melody held Riku tighter. "Do you not see this, Leon? We love each other!"

Leon didn't hear her. "We're leaving. Now."

"Mel," Riku breathed.

Melody sighed. "Riku," she said. Her voice was barely classifiable; it wasn't a croak, it wasn't a whisper, it wasn't a moan. But desperation could clearly be heard. "I'll love you forever and ever."

They kissed and hugged again, and then Melody turned around and waved to everyone. There were tears in Kairi's eyes, and Sora looked really depressed.

"Don't look back," she murmured to herself. "Don't look back."

Melody climbed into the periwinkle GMC Envoy car, and shut the door. Sora, Kairi, and Riku stood in their spots motionless until all they saw of that car was its red backlights. Soon, Kairi left. Then Sora left.

Riku was the last to leave.

He watched, as Melody was going… going… _gone_. And this time, she wasn't coming back.

* * *

**I'll try to get the next chapter posted soon, so please bear with me!**


	14. Gotta Turn This Car Around

**WARNING: This chapter is slightly unrealistic and melodramatic.  
Just kidding (or am I? I guess you'll just have to find out... heheh :P). But what isn't these days? :P**

**Please R&R! Thanks to everyone who has so far!!!! xD**

* * *

**Chapter 14**

_Just a little review from last chapter:_

**"Mel," Riku breathed.**

**Melody sighed. "Riku," she said. Her voice was barely classifiable; it wasn't a croak, it wasn't a whisper, it wasn't a moan. But desperation could clearly be heard. "I'll love you forever and ever."**

**They kissed and hugged again, and then Melody turned around and waved to everyone. There were tears in Kairi's eyes, and Sora looked really depressed.**

"**Don't look back," she murmured to herself. "Don't look back."**

**Melody climbed into the blue GMC Envoy, and shut the door. Sora, Kairi, and Riku stood in their spots motionless until all they saw of that car was its red backlights. Soon, Kairi left. Then Sora left.**

**Riku never left.**

**Melody was going… going… **_**gone**_**. And this time, she wasn't coming back.**

**

* * *

**

"Don't look back," Melody murmured to herself. "Don't look back."

She climbed into the blue GMC Envoy, and shut the car door. Immediately, she plugged in her earphones from her iPod and started listening to the song "Incomplete" by the Backstreet Boys. She always kind of thought that that song matched how she felt about Riku, especially after she left Destiny Islands the first time.

_Empty spaces fill me up with holes  
Distant faces with no place left to go  
Without you, within me I can't find no rest  
Where I'm going is anybody's guess _

_I've tried to go on like I never knew you  
I'm awake but my world is half asleep  
I pray for this heart to be unbroken  
But without you all I'm going to be is incomplete_

Melody wondered what they were doing now. Were they moping? Or having fun on the beach? Most of all, she worried about Riku. He seemed intense when he told her his feelings. He'd be able to move on, right?

_  
Voices tell me I should carry on  
But I am swimming in an ocean all alone  
Baby, my baby  
It's written on your face  
You still wonder if we made a big mistake _

_I've tried to go on like I never knew you  
I'm awake but my world is half asleep  
I pray for this heart to be unbroken  
But without you all I'm going to be is incomplete_

Didn't Selphie always like him, anyway? So chances are he'd probably be able to find a girlfriend. It didn't stop him the first time Melody met him.

_  
I don't mean to drag it on, but I can't seem to let you go  
I don't wanna make you face this world alone  
I wanna let you go (alone) _

_I've tried to go on like I never knew you  
I'm awake but my world is half asleep  
I pray for this heart to be unbroken  
But without you all I'm going to be is incomplete_

_Incomplete_

Ugh; Riku was too good for a girl like Selphie. She was just so … bubbly all the time. It annoyed the daylights out of Riku as well. But who else was there on the island that he could date now that Mel was gone? Melody sighed and realized that they were already on the interstate, on their way to Traverse Town. An idea popped into her head.

"Leon! Look, we're low on gas!" she gasped, looking at one of the little panels.

"Thanks, sis. I'll stop at the next gas station."

Ten minutes later, Melody and Leon pulled into a Shell gas station, and bought more gas. Leon went to get some doughnuts and coffee, and as he left, Melody jumped into the driver's seat.

'_It's a good thing I got some driving lessons before I left Twilight Town,' _she thought. '_Just don't freak, Leon_.'

When Leon got back and saw Melody sitting in the driver's seat, he understood that she had something planned. "Mel, get out of there now. I'm driving."

"Aw, Leon, c'mon. I had so many driving lessons back in Twilight Town, and now I can finally drive! This is perfect! Please?"

"Fine. You drive, but I navigate."

"Deal."

So Melody drove for a while towards Traverse Town. She put on slow, sleepy music and put switched Leon's caffeinated coffee with her decaf coffee. Soon, he was asleep like a little baby.

'_Ha! _Too _easy!_' She thought.

At the next pit stop, she turned the car around.

_How many times can I break till I shatter?  
__Over the line can't define what I'm after  
__I always turn the car around  
__Give me a break let me make my own pattern  
__All that it takes is some time but I'm shattered  
__I always turn the car around_

_Give it up, give it up, baby  
__Give it up, give it up, now  
__Now_

_How many times can I break till I shatter?  
__Over the line can't define what I'm after  
__I always turn the car around  
__All that I feel is the realness I'm faking  
__Taking my time but it's time that I'm wasting  
__Always turn the car around_

_How many times can I break till I shatter?  
__Over the line can't define what I'm after  
__I always turn the car around_

_Don't wanna turn that car around  
__I gotta turn this thing around_

"I'm sorry, Leon," Melody whispered, even though he was asleep, "I don't want to do this to you; but I have to turn this car around."

She smiled at her pun. '_So many songs,' _she thought, '_oh so many songs that relate to my life, they all seem to play at the right moment.'_

_Flashback__:_

"_Funny, isn't it?" said Melody. "All these songs, they always play at the right moment."_

_Sora rolled his eyes. "It's like that for a reason, Mel."_

"_Huh? What d'you mean by that?"_

_Sora sighed. "Don't you remember? It's because of the Music Mae—"_

"Melody? Where are you headed for? This isn't on the way to Traverse Town!"

'_SHITAKE MUSHROOMS!' _thought Melody. _'Leon's awake!'_

She couldn't find anything to say.

"Mel, I knew you had something planned. We're not going back to Destiny Islands. Now, turn this car around."

"No. And technically you can't drive 'till we get to the next stop. Which will be our house at Destiny Islands," she added.

"When we get there, you're grounded for three weeks, Melody!"

"Yeah, yeah." Usually, Melody didn't do this kind of thing. But it was Riku she wanted to see, so of course she'd do most _anything, _right?

It took about another forty-five minutes, but finally Melody and Leon arrived at their house in Destiny Islands. The car ride there was silent but tense, with Leon giving Melody glares throughout the whole ride there.

Melody jumped out of the car. "Well, bro, looks like I'll be seeing you on Thanksgiving."

"Hmph. Funny. Get back in the car."

"No, no, I'd rather stay with Riku. I'll come and visit you on holidays, though. Bye!"

"Not so fast, Melody Kneller! You can't just leave me, I'm your guardian, and our parents ordered me to take care of you, and that means something to me."

"Don't you _see_, Leon? This is _not _taking care of me! It's watching me, sure, but taking care of me would be somehow convincing your boss for you to stay here!"

Leon sighed. "Give me some time. We'll move first thing tomorrow."

Melody ran off, to go find all her friends.

* * *

Sora and Kairi were on the dock, with Riku sitting a few feet away from them. Riku was so out of their conversation, and was just staring out into the ocean. Melody was sprinting on the beach now, to find the three teenagers at their usual spot. She stopped dead when she saw how Riku looked – even though she had only left for a few hours – he looked extremely depressed.

'_How should I enter without giving them a heart attack? I'll say something that they would know only I would say.' _She thought. "Miss the last keyblade bearer already?"

Riku turned around. _'That's it,' _he thought, _'I have officially _died._ That's not Melody._' The way her hair was blowing in the wind, how her eyes glowed, and how she carried herself. She was happy again.

Sora and Kairi turned around too. Their jaws dropped.

"MELODY!" Riku exclaimed happily as he tackled her, accidentally making her fall onto the sand.

Melody smiled and laughed. "Riku." She kissed him passionately.

Next, Kairi and Sora hugged her. "Why didn't you tell us it was all a joke?" said Sora jokingly.

"Seriously," said Kairi, "what happened? Did he change his mind?"

Melody's eyes went from face to face – from Riku's bright, happy face, to Sora's surprised yet happy face, and to Kairi's skeptical yet happy face – as she thought of how to answer them. "I switched our coffees at the first pit stop. Then I convinced him to let me drive, he fell asleep, and I somehow managed to get here with out him like killing me."

Riku's face fell. "You still have to leave." It wasn't a question.

Melody nodded. "First thing tomorrow. But I got Leon to think about it, at least. Who knows, maybe for once fate will be on our side. I mean, look at our past," she added, "if we weren't all supposed to be together, I don't know what destiny is."

Everyone fell silent. They sat by the dock, eating pizza, watching the stars.

"That one looks like a soup ladle!" said Sora.

"That's the big dipper," said Melody, rolling her eyes.

"I see one that looks like ice cream," said Kairi.

"I see one that looks like a heart," said Melody. She blinked her eyes. Wait, was that? No, never mind. As she blinked her eyes, the big black blob that gave off a weird atmosphere was gone. The Heartless was gone.

Riku smiled. "I see a dragon."

Melody rolled her eyes. "Of course you do."

* * *

"Hello? Mr. Carlson? Yes, it's Leon."

"Listen, Kneller, you were supposed to be at your house a few hours ago. What the heck happened?"

"I-I'm sorry, sir. My sister—"

"Ah, yes, your sister Melody. She seems to be the trouble of all this."

"Sir?"

"I don't care, Kneller. Just be over here. Now."

"That's impossible!. The drive is at least two and a half hours by car."

"Just do it."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

"I wish we could stay like this forever," said Melody looking up at the sky. "All of us."

"Yeah," Sora sighed. "Your brother's job, though."

"Why do you live with your brother, anyway?" asked Kairi.

Melody froze. It was a very sensitive subject, and she never talked about it. Only Riku and Sora knew.

"Her parents are on a long business trip," Riku lied.

Melody sighed. "Riku, it's fine. I trust Kairi."

"I know you do. It's just hard for you to talk about it."

"I'm so sorry, Mel," said Kairi. "If I would've known, I would've never asked—"

Melody smiled sadly. "It's okay, you didn't know. How could you possibly?"

"I'm sorry," she whispered once more.

_Flashback:_

_Four and a half-year-old Melody was in the backyard of Riku's house with Riku, Sora, and Kairi. Riku's mom came into the yard._

"_Melody, dear, your brother needs to talk to you."_

_Melody exited the yard. "I'll be right back," she said._

_Melody saw Leon. "Hi. What happened?"_

_Leon, still in his work suit, grabbed Melody's shoulders and squeezed them. "Mel, I have to talk to you."_

"_Okay."  
_

"_Mom and Dad were driving last night on the interstate, on their way back from Traverse Town, and there was a thunder storm. Lightening hit their car."_

"_Are they okay?"_

"_They're … asleep…"_

"_Oh. So I'll see them soon."_

"_No, Mel. I'm so sorry. They're dead."_

_Melody ran into Leon and started crying her eyes out. Although she said she'd be back to play with Riku, Sora, and Kairi she couldn't go play after she found out her parents had died._

"_They loved you, Mel."_

"_I loved them too. Why'd they die, Lee?"_

"_I don't know, sis. But I have to take care of you now."_

_Melody grabbed onto him tighter. "I love you."_

_Leon was surprised. He never really spent that much time with his sister. "I love you too, Mel. It's all right. Everything is going to be okay."_

_End of Flashback._

"Mel? You there?" Sora asked, poking her arm.

Riku rolled his eyes. "Can't you tell? She's having a flashback."

Melody turned herself around. "How'd…you … know?"

Riku smiled a little. "What, with all the time I spent with you, you didn't honestly think I wouldn't be able to tell whether or not you were having flashbacks?"

"I … guess…" It was hard for her to talk; she just relived finding out about her parent's death. Riku sensed this, and pulled her close to him.

"Hey," he whispered. "It's all right. Everything's okay."

Melody got up. "Yeah, _now _it is!"

Everyone looked confused and taken aback. "What's that supposed to mean?" asked Sora.

"Everything's okay _now_, but what about tomorrow? And the day after that? Guys, don't you get it?! I'm still leaving! I'm not staying…"

Riku grabbed at her hands and pulled her to sit down with him on the dock. "Just make the most of it, then."

"No," she said, nodding her head violently. "No, I'm going to do something about it this time."

"Where are you going?" asked Riku.

"I have to speak to my _dear _brother."

Melody walked over to her house, but hesitated while she got to the door. _'If I just hid, and never showed up, I might be able to worm my way out of this,_' she thought. _'Nah. Scratch that.'_ She knocked. "Leon? You home?" She opened the door a crack. "Leon?"

She saw a figure on the couch, but it was Leon. He looked up with a malicious grin on his face. "_Melody_, how nice to see you."

"And you are…?"

"I am Mr. Carlson, your brothers boss. Not to worry, he's asleep upstairs, he doesn't even know I'm here. I came to talk to his infamous sister, Melody."

"Me?!"

"Yes. See, whenever I ask Leon to move places, he always says that you cause trouble. So I just wanted to ask you in person to please stop."

Melody scoffed. "I'm _sixteen_ years old. You, especially since you're not my guardian and have no authority over me whatsoever, cannot tell me what to do." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Hmph. You really are a pain. You leave me no choice."

* * *

Riku sighed. "She'll be okay, right?"

Sora gave him a look. "Riku, for all we know, she could be on the interstate by now."

"No," he said getting up quickly, brushing the sand off of his pants. "I'm going to see if she's still home."

Kairi shrugged. "Sora and I will stay here. Just in case… she passes by."

Riku smirked. "Oh, don't act so innocent."

Kairi and Sora turned red.

* * *

From the Kneller household, muffled screams could be heard.

"MMM! UNTIE MEEH!"

"No can do. Until you let Leon move in peace."

"NEVA!" Melody said through the tape that Mr. Carlson put on her mouth.

"Then you leave me no choice."

Riku walked in just in time to see Mr. Carlson take out a big knife, and raise it in the air. Just as he was about to strike Melody, Riku dived and took him to the floor. He grabbed the knife out of Mr. Carlson's hand, summoned his keyblade, and struck Mr. Carlson.

"MMM!" Melody screamed. She was tied up to a chair with rope, with tape on her mouth.

Riku quickly untied Melody and took the tape off her face. Without saying a word, Melody grabbed Riku's face and kissed him passionately. "I love you," she whispered, her voice quivering. Riku noticed she was covered in cold sweat.

He held her closer and said, "Mel, you are my life. Who the heck was that, anyway? What did he _want _with you?"

"Mr. Carlson. Wanted me to not be so stubborn about Leon moving."

"_Leon's boss_?! So, what, he was just going to kill you because you were stopping his best employee from doing his job?"

Melody nodded. "I don't know if it was killing he had in mind, or just harming me, but, Riku, oh my god…"

"I'll sleep in your room tonight, then," he said.

"But in the morning—"

Riku nodded his head, smiling. "Mel, don't you see? You're not moving! Mr. Carlson's _dead_!"

Melody's jaw dropped. She looked at Riku weirdly.

"What? You should be happy!" he said.

Melody nodded her head. "You … _killed_ him?!" she said, her voice getting unnaturally high.

Riku shrugged. "It was either that, or let him harm you and get away with it. There was no other way. If we called the cops, he would've escaped jail anyway."

"How do you know?"

"Because… he's my uncle."

"_WHAT_?!"

"Remember, I told you I was related to one of the most dangerous serial killers of all time? I just realized that that's Leon's boss. See, his real name is Cloud Strife, but he changed it. He never told us what he changed it to, but that initials were reversed. Steven Carlson, Cloud Strife. As soon as I saw him, I recognized him." **(A/n: I choose Cloud randomly, I love him, but it was the only name from KH I could think of at the moment. Plus, the initial thing is pretty cool :P)**

"Riku, how could you just kill your uncle like that?"

Riku shrugged. "He was dead to me, anyway."

"Why?"

"There's a reason why you've never seen my dad," said Riku, his eyes wet. Riku didn't cry, but Melody could tell he was upset.

"I'm so sorry…"

"Oh, no, he's not _dead_. 'Mr. Carlson' just messed up my dad's face using a blade, that's all."

"I'm so sorry, Riku," she repeated.

"It's all right. We have each other. Forever."

Melody sighed and smiled. "It feels good to know that we have forever."

"Doesn't it?"

* * *

When Leon got out of bed the next day, and saw Mr. Carlson's dead body on the floor, he screamed. Melody and Riku woke up instantly, and came downstairs.

"What's up, Leon?" Riku asked.

Leon just pointed at the dead body.

"Oh, yeah. Um, it's a long story…" Melody said. How should she tell her brother that his boss tried to kill her?

Riku blurted out, "He tried to kill Melody, and I came just in time."

Leon laughed. "Mr. Carlson wouldn't—"

"Lee." Melody spoke clearly and firmly. "Look at me. Look into my eyes. Don't I seem different?"

"A little, I guess."

"I've seen things, Leon. It's true. I would _never _lie about something as serious as this."

"So how do I know this isn't just some excuse so you don't have to move again, Mel?"

"I wouldn't _kill _someone because of it! Who do you think I am?"

Leon shrugged. "Like you said, you're different now. Explain everything."

Riku explained it all – how Mr. Carlson held Melody captive (in her own house), tried to kill her, and lastly, how Mr. Carlson was really Cloud Strife.

Leon shrugged. "Two things – one, we'll have to get this body buried, and two…" he looked at Melody and smiled. "I guess we're here to stay."

Melody shrugged. "I guess." She tackled her brother and smothered him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Leon smiled. "I will admit, Destiny Islands has always been my favorite place to live."

Melody looked at Riku. "Me too."

* * *

Everyone was so happy – especially Melody and Riku – now that Melody could stay at Destiny Islands. When Melody announced the news to Sora and Kairi, Kairi tackled her and Sora started hyperventilating. He hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. But most of all, Melody liked Riku's reaction.

_Flashback:_

_After Melody and Leon were done talking, Melody wanted to go upstairs to her room and celebrate with Riku. She poked his arm._

"_C'mon, Riku!" she said excitedly. "Let's go upstairs!"_

_Riku didn't move. He was in shock. But Melody knew he was in shock in a good way – she could see in his eyes how excited he was._

"_Riku?" she said after a few minutes._

_Slowly, he came back down to earth. He turned his head slowly towards Melody, and a huge grin crept on his face. "Come here."_

_Melody came closer, and Riku wrapped her in a tight hug. Melody could feel herself melting in his arms. "You're here. You're staying," he whispered._

_Melody nodded. "I am."_

"_Did you not hear me?" he said louder. "YOU'RE STAYING!" He let go of Melody, and she saw his face. _

"_I know!" she said. "I can't believe it!"_

_Riku pulled her closer. "I think we should celebrate."_

_Melody shrugged, as if she couldn't careless. "I mean I __**guess**_ _we should…"_

_Riku picked her up, and carried her bridal style to her room. He put her down on her bed, and, of course, they started making out again._

_End of Flashback._

* * *

**So, there's a reason why I called this chapter _Gotta Turn This Car Around_; because, you know, in the song Shattered it always says that, and Melody literally turned the car around :P**

**And I know the killing off of Mr. Carlson was pretty, okay _really _dramatic, but I tried it out at first and thought it was pretty decent (that, and I didn't feel like changing it; what else would it have been, _another_ fight between Leon and Melody?).**

**And, to The Cute one - you wished Mr. Carlson would die, and now he's dead! Hope you like! :)**


	15. Destiny Islands

**Alright, as much as I hate to say this, THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER!!!  
So please R&R!!!**

**THANKS SO MUCH TO MY CONSTANT REVIEWERS! If it weren't for you, this story would probably still be unfinished.  
Oh, and you might want to read the end when you're done with this chapter, I'm putting an author's note.**

* * *

**Chapter 15/Epilogue**

The next few days went by like a dream – they only thing that Melody, Riku, Sora, and Kairi would do is hang out with each other. Sometimes they'd separate into two groups, which were usually one of the following: Riku and Melody, Sora and Kairi, Melody and Sora, Riku and Sora, or Kairi and Melody. Riku didn't want to hang out with Kairi, since she annoyed him too much.

Whenever Melody and Riku were together, there was always this weird feeling between them, and Melody had no clue what it was. She was mainly getting those vibes from Riku, but she couldn't figure out what they meant. She'd be talking to him, and then all of a sudden, he'd get really aggressive and irritated. Melody would ask him what was wrong but he'd just shake his head and yell "_Nothing's wrong!_"; Melody was starting to get really worried about him.

She sighed as she headed home from the park, where she had been all day with Riku. Things had _not_ gone well…

_Flashback_:

_Melody was sitting on one of the tire swings in the park, listening to "Love Remains the Same" by Gavin Rossdale on her iPod. All of a sudden, Melody felt two arms wrap around her waist. She turned around quickly, very startled._

_"Oh," she breathed. "It's just you. Riku, you nearly gave me a heart attack!"_

_Riku smirked. "You should've known it would be me. Who else would it be? Hayner?!"_

_Melody froze. "What?"_

_Riku's face became stony and he rolled his eyes. "It was a joke, Melody."_

_"Why are you like this? Ever since you killed the so called 'Mr. Carlson', you've been…different…"_

_"Hmph. You'd think killing my relative would haunt me, but no, that's not the reason…"_

_"Riku, why can't you tell me? We're boyfriend and girlfriend! You love me, and I love you."_

_He shook his head. "It's not as simple as that…. I don't know how to phrase this, Mel…"_

_"It shouldn't matter! What, unless you're breaking up with me?!" She said, her voice getting painfully shrill._

_"What? No! Of course not!"_

_"So why can't you tell me?"_

_"Because… I made a promise to myself, that I'd wait until I was sure that—"He stopped himself from finishing the sentence._

_"Sure of what?"_

_He looked down at the ground._

_Melody got up from the swing. "Whatever Riku. Call me when you can tell me the truth," And with that, she walked away._

_End of Flashback._

Melody sighed as she put the keys into the keyhole, and entered the house. 'This is going to be a long night,' she thought as she put the keys on the counter. 'Riku and I both know that we can't stay away from each other for too long. It's just a matter of time now…'

* * *

"Sora, what should I do? I don't want her to be mad at me, and I know I have to tell her soon…"

Sora shook his head. "I don't see what the problem is here, Riku. So we got a letter from the King again…"

"…Telling us that we need to go on another journey. Telling us that Mel should come, too. She just moved here again, and she's actually here to stay this time. I can't just tell her that we have to—"

"—Go on a journey together? Aw, c'mon, this could be fun for her. Besides, do you think it's more fun for her to be mad at you, or to go on a journey with all four of us?"

Riku sighed and sat down. "You never mentioned that Kairi had to come…"

"Well, you don't have to hang out with her if you don't want to. You know we're probably going to split up anyway. And, if we do," Sora added, seeing Riku's expression, "we all know that you're going to be with Melody, and I'm going to be with Kairi."

"We better know," Riku muttered. "That is, if Melody still wants to…"

* * *

Melody sighed as she picked up her phone. "Hey, Sora."

"Mel, we have to talk. Meet me at the mall in fifteen minutes."

"Um, okay."

Melody got out of her bed and quickly put on some clothes. She grabbed her keys and cell phone, and left a note on the kitchen counter so that Leon would know where she was.

When Melody saw Sora standing outside of Starbucks, she ran to him and hugged him. "Hey, Sora. What's up?"

"Hey, Mel. Look, I have to tell you something. Um, you might want to sit down somewhere. This may take a while."

Melody gave him a concerned look. "Is everything alright? Does this involve Kairi and you?"

"Quite the opposite. It involves you and Riku."

"So you know about our little disagreement…?" Melody sighed. "I should've known Riku told you."

"Yeah, but Mel this is serious. What Riku didn't want to tell you … well, it's kind of crucial…."

"How so? Involving what? Our relationship, or—?"

"Our lives. _All_ of our lives."

* * *

Riku called up Melody as soon as possible, hoping that Sora didn't tell her yet. "Pick up, pick up," he murmured.

Melody never picked up. Her phone was on silent.

* * *

Melody's eyes widened. "You mean like life or death?"

Sora shook his head. "More like, whether you're heartless, or you have a heart."

Melody gasped. "The Heartless…"

Sora nodded. "The last four keyblade bearers…"

_Flashback:_

"_Funny, isn't it?" said Melody. "All these songs, they always play at the right moment."_

_Sora rolled his eyes. "It's like that for a reason, Mel."_

"_Huh? What d'you mean by that?"_

_Sora sighed. "Don't you remember? It's because of the Music Maestro."_

"_My keyblade? What does that have to do with anything?"_

_Sora face palmed himself. "Don't you realize? You – isn't music your 'remedy' or something? Well, all of our keyblades match our souls. There's so much you don't know, ever since you moved…"_

_Melody sighed. "I'm sure."_

_End of Flashback._

Melody sighed. "So … I'm guessing King Mickey sent you guys letters?"

"How… how'd you know?"

Melody snorted. "Oh, please, I know about the first one as well – you know, the one about me, the last keyblade bearer, that he sent you. So I'm guessing he sent you another one, telling you that we _all _have to go on a journey?"

"Yeah, but still, how'd you know about the first letter?"

"Well, Riku isn't very good at hiding things. I found it on his desk one time."

Sora laughed. "Oh, of course Riku would do something as _stupid_ as that."

Melody shrugged. "What can I say? He's Riku."

Sora snorted. "What can _I _say?" Sora paused. "You're right. He _is_ Riku. Oh, Mel, check your cell phone."

"My cell? Why?"

"Because Riku probably tried to call you to tell you what I just told you. He thought it would be best if _he_ told you what was going on, but the King told me _specifically _that I should tell you, for some odd reason."

"O—kay…" Melody checked her cell phone. The screen said:

**5 Missed Calls.**

1 New Voice Message.

_2 New Text Messages_.

Melody sighed and looked at Sora. "He won't ever give up, will he?"

Sora shrugged. "What can I say? He's Riku."

* * *

When Melody got back to her house, Riku was standing in front of the door. "Mel—"

Melody raised her hand up. "Save it, Riku. I already know. I'm not mad."

She pushed past him to get to her door, so that she could go into her house. He wouldn't budge. "And you're okay with this?" He asked. "All of it? The journey? The fact that we're never going to be able to stay in one place for a while?"

Melody shrugged. "Why should I care? It's been like that for me all my life. And it started for a good reason," she said, looking at Riku. "Would you please let me get in to my own house now?"

"Obviously, you do care. Otherwise, you wouldn't have responded like that. C'mon, Mel. What's wrong?"

She was previously fiddling with the keys to get into her house, and she realized Riku's face was right next to hers. She turned around and grabbed Riku's shoulders. "Don't you see?" She said, shaking him. "It's not the fact that we'd be moving around! It's because…" She sighed and shook her head. "It's because I'm afraid."

Riku raised his eyebrows. "Since when are _you _afraid?"

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm afraid that something would go wrong, and one of us would end up—"

"Heartless," Riku breathed. "Mel, Sora's a good fighter. I'm a good fighter. And Kairi — well, Sora can help Kairi. But nothing's going to happen!"

"Riku, I know what happened last time. How Kairi became heartless, how you joined the Darkness, and how Sora and you were constantly fighting over the keyblade. I just don't want anything to ruin our relationships!"

Riku grabbed her hands. "I can guarantee you that nothing will—"

Melody stopped him. "Don't make a promise that you can't keep. It's not up to you what happens. You don't decide people's fate, their destiny, their lives… or their deaths."

"I should go inside now."

"Mel, we can talk about this."

"Yeah, we can. Inside!" She hissed. "It's getting cold out here!"

They entered the house, and went up to Melody's room to talk alone.

"Mel, I'm sure this is scary—"

"How come you're not scared? Even of loosing someone?" she said, her voice cracking slightly.

Riku looked down. "I _am _scared. Of loosing you. But you know me, I never show that type of thing."

She shrugged. "I guess I should know by now. So what are we going to do?"

"Isn't it obvious? We're going to fight."

Melody sighed. "As long as I'm with you."

Riku pulled her into a hug. "You are, and you always will be. Until the day we d—"

"Don't say it," she whispered. "Don't say the word I think you're going to say." She clung onto him tighter, and buried her head in his chest.

* * *

The next morning, Melody woke up to a very anxious Riku. He was sitting on her chair, and tapping his fingers on her desk nervously.

Melody blinked a couple of times. "Riku? What's wrong?"

"There's something I have to show you. Do you mind if we went over to my house quickly?"

"Um, sure. Let me just get changed and everything."

Melody and Riku left her house, and headed towards Riku's place. When they finally got there, Riku went straight up to his room, and Melody followed.

"Hey, what's going on?" she asked.

"Take a look at this," he said, shoving what looked like an empty bottle of Coca Cola to her. "I found it a few years ago, after you left the islands."

Melody took the bottle. "What's the big deal? It's just a bottle of coke."

"Look inside."

She looked inside, and found a picture of Melody and Riku when they were younger. "I remember this very clearly…"

_Flashback_:

"_Mel, we have to go home now! It's my mom's birthday, and we really should go!"_

"_Okay, okay," said a younger version of Melody, "I'm coming!" Melody came out of the classroom with her backpack, which was bigger than her, slung over her shoulders. "It's kinda hard to walk like this."_

"_What do you have in there, anyway?"_

_Melody shrugged. "Not much, actually. But it feels weird." She dropped her bag and searched inside. "Ugh, stupid Sora! He put all _his_ stuff in _my_ bag!"_

_Riku laughed. "Just put it in his cubby."_

_Melody did as Riku said, and the two left their kindergarten classroom together. They were walking to Riku's house, since his mom had her birthday party there. "So," said Melody, "who is coming to the party?"_

"_Everyone. Except for Kairi," said Riku, sounding slightly relieved. "She annoys me."_

_Melody chuckled. "I know. So it's just me, you, —" Riku stumbled a little "—and Sora," finished Melody._

"_Yeah, the three of us."_

"_I miss Sora. I haven't talked to him a lot lately. He's always hanging out with Kairi, and I'm always hanging out with you…"_

"_Yeah, well it's better that way. Trust me, you don't want to put Kairi and me in the same room. We get by, but after a while it's not pretty. Especially if we're alone; then I just loose it, my temper."_

_Melody shrugged. "I guess. Come to think of it, I've never really seen you spend time with her."_

"_Eh. I'd rather spend time with you, anyway."_

_Melody froze. "What about Sora?"_

"_Well, uh, like you said… he, er, hangs out with Kairi now."_

_By this time, Melody and Riku reached Riku's house. Riku and Melody couldn't find anything to say, so they just stood there._

_"Smile!" said Sora, as he took a picture of the two standing awkwardly._

_Melody laughed, but Riku lost his temper. He grabbed the camera from Sora and tried to delete the picture, but he didn't know how._

_When Riku got back to Melody, she raised her eyebrows and said, "I thought you only really lost your temper with Kairi."_

_"Well, it seems the only person I don't loose my temper now with is …you."_

_Melody glanced elsewhere awkwardly, and took something from Riku's hand. "So, what are we going to do with this?" she said, holding up the picture._

_Riku grabbed it out of her hand, and tossed it up in the air. "There. It's gone."_

_Melody frowned and sighed. "I kinda liked that picture."_

_Riku shrugged. "We'll find it again, I'm sure. One day."_

_End of Flashback._

Riku smirked. "Another flashback?"

"Huh? Yeah. Don't pretend like you weren't having one, either," she added.

Riku looked down. After a while, he said, "I can't believe I found it, though."

"How did you find it? Where?"

"It was a long time ago, in May. I was walking along the beach, thinking about my past – about you, Melody – and all of a sudden I feel something brush up against my foot. I looked down, and I saw the bottle."

"Wow. But how did that photo get inside the bottle? You threw it up in the air, and the wind swept it away, but you never put it in the bottle…"

"You know, for some reason, I didn't think of that."

"You don't think someone … someone found it, do you? But who?"

"I think I know just the person," said Riku. "But trust me – I have to deal with this. I don't want you to have to deal with this person."

"And who is this, exactly?"

* * *

"Selphie!" Riku called. "I have to talk to you!"

"Riku? Riku! You came to my house?"

"Yeah, I have to ask you a question."

"Oh my god, yes, Riku, I'll go out with you!"

"What? No! I'm not asking you out."

Selphie frowned. "Oh."

"I came to ask you about this. How did you find it?"

"Before I tell you, how did you know it was me?"

Riku turned the Coca Cola bottle upside down, and pointed to a spot where Selphie engraved: **Selphie + Riku** in a heart.

"Alright, alright! It was a long, long time ago. We were in kindergarten. I was walking near the Shake Shack, when all of a sudden something whirls past me and falls to the ground. I pick it up, and there it is. A picture of you, and – what was that girl's name? Melody, I think. So there you have it. I put it in a Coca Cola bottle and pushed it into the ocean, hoping that Melody would go along with it. And she did."

* * *

Everything was calm now.

Melody and Riku were better than ever. They basically spent all their time together.

Sora and Kairi were getting along fine, as well.

Melody and Sora found time to spend with each other, which was hard because the two couples always liked to spend time with their boyfriend or girlfriend.

They were just waiting, now. Waiting… waiting… waiting… for the King.

A few days later, a gummi ship landed on near the dock. Out of the ship came Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey.

Riku, Melody, Sora, and Kairi ran towards the ship and greeted everyone with a hug.

King Mickey turned to Melody and said, "Well, if it isn't the last keyblade bearer. It's good to have you back, Mel."

_Flashback:_

_"You do realize that if she never finds out, she'll be mad at you when she does, Leon?" said Kind Mickey._

_"Yes, I do, but I think it's better that she's protected now, and she finds out when she's older."_

_"What did her parents say about this?"_

_"I-I don't know, King Mickey."_

_"Well, it could be a great journey for her. The last keyblade bearer, the Music Maestro."_

_Melody stopped eavesdropping on Leon and the King, and went up to her bedroom. **'I wonder what they were talking about**,' thought five-year-old Melody._

_End of Flashback._

"It's good to be back, King Mickey."

Leon came running out of the house. "Mel?" he asked.

She turned to him. "Leon, I'm so sorry I didn't get the chance to tell you earlier. Things have been hectic. But… I think I'm going this time. I have to; I'm the last keyblade bearer, and the Heartless have come back."

"It's okay, I respect that. I'll miss you, Melody."

She hugged him. "I'll miss you too, big bro. But I'll keep in contact. And," she added, looking at the King, asking his permission, "I'm sure I could visit often?"

King Mickey nodded his head and smiled. "Of course."

Melody sighed shakily. "Alright. I guess this is goodbye."

She took one more look at Destiny Islands – at the dock, the Shake Shack, her and Riku's cave, the big paupu tree, and her house.

_Destiny Islands.  
_**Destiny Islands.  
**Destiny Islands.

Those words rang through her head once again as she slowly entered the gummi ship.

"So, are you excited? You're going on a journey to defeat the Heartless with us!" said Sora when everyone sat down.

"Yeah, pumped!" said Melody. She sighed and stared out the window of the ship, as they took off from the ground.

Riku squeezed her hand. "You okay?"

She smiled. "Yeah. Just thinking. Can't wait, though."

Maybe it wasn't so bad when they first moved here. Maybe Melody was just being melodramatic. It wouldn't be the first time. If she had never moved here, she wouldn't have met Riku, Sora, or Kairi again. She wouldn't be Melody again. She'd still be Serena Anholts.

'Well, I guess this is it. Until next time,' she thought. She stared out the window for the last time.

She let those the name of the place, which changed her life so much, ring through her head for the last time:

_Destiny Islands_.  
**Destiny Islands.  
**Destiny Islands.

That is, she let those words ring through her head for the last time until she'd come back to visit the place that, if it were not there, she would not be the person she is…

**_Destiny Islands._**

* * *

**...And so the story ends, the same way it started :P**

_Alright, so I have a question.... Should I:_

_1. Write a pre-quel, about Melody's life when she was Serena, not living in Destiny Islands  
2. Write a pre-quel, about Riku's life when Melody was away from Destiny Islands  
3. Write about Melody's life when she was younger and lived in Destiny Islands, before she changed her name  
or...  
4. Just not write anything more about this. lol xD_

**Well, review and let me know what you think! :)**


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